Silver and Gold
by Owari
Summary: When Ezio left Italy for Conatantinople, he gave specific orders for his twin sons NOT to follow him. They ignored him and somehow hook up with Yusuf Tazim's son along the way. However, an Auditore and Tazim take sharing a room and bed too literally. YAOI
1. Chapter 1

**1491 July Venice 32**

"_I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" Ezio Auditore winced as his hand was crushed in the younger woman's grip, his ears fared little better with her pained yells – mostly abuse aimed at him. "I will become a nun! I swear it! I will become a nun and never drink again – aagh! Bastardo!" When he had volunteered to be with Carlotta Rossi whilst she gave birth to his child, Ezio had expected it to be easy and with much less fuss._

"_You are doing fine, one more push and this will be over, I promise you." The woman glared at the blonde giving her an encouraging smile and thumped her head back on the pillow; Leonardo had said that twice already. The whole situation was absurd! She had accompanied the inventor to Bartolomeo's barracks, he'd needed to do some maintenance on a weapon, not even a few minutes after arriving her waters had broken and this whole mess began. In her opinion there were too many people around right now, outside the door she could hear encouragement from the large mercenary, his wife was mopping at the sweat on her face, Ezio beside her and Leonardo at the end of the bed. "You are a little earlier than I expected, I was sure I had done the maths correctly...you are sure you were together just the once? Maybe before?"_

_The Assassin winced at a particularly hard squeeze on his fingers, "Leonardo, not the time!" He knew the blonde had been fascinated with Carlotta since she had become pregnant; documenting and studying her the entire nine months. It had been useful, she was one of his models after all and he'd given her shelter in exchange for studying her ever expanding belly. It had also been a way to keep her in Venice, keep Ezio's unborn baby within reach – to which Ezio was grateful for._

"Si_, not the time!" Carlotta yelled and batted the cool cloth from her skin, "Once and never again - _Dio perché mi_!"_

**1491 January Istanbul **

_Yusuf Tazim was having a mini heart attack, considering it was his twenty fourth birthday he should be drunk and naked somewhere – not standing uselessly outside a door listening to his wife give birth to their first born. Was she alright? Was the baby alright? Why did he have to wait out here? He had gotten her pregnant, he'd seen every part of her body already, so why was this so different?_

"_Yusuf!"_

_No...no, he couldn't go to her...she would be fine, she'd promised him a healthy son and many more after. He believed that. The woman he'd known his entire life, who he'd married, who'd given him the strength to return from every mission alive, was going to be fine._

"_Yusuf!"_

"_I am here!" He burst through the door and straight to her side, "Like a fat man to a bakery, I am here." he heard her laugh at that, a weak smile on a pained but otherwise beautiful face, taking her hand in both his, Yusuf kissed her knuckles affectionately, "What can I do, _Sevgili_?_

"_Have this baby for me?"_

"_...eh...anything else? Something not requiring me to lose my manhood or go through hours of agony?"_

_She simply panted and shook her head, "Just do not leave me."_

"_Like a fly to camel shit – I shall be by your side." This time there was no laugh but there was a distinct crack of his finger bone._

**Venice**

"_Matteo? That was your brother's name, _si_?" Ezio caressed his tiny son's cheek as he laid in his mother's arms, sleeping like nothing was ever going to get him – and with Ezio Auditore as his father nothing ever would. "It sounds good to me..." he said it once more and nodded firmly, a smile on his scarred lips as he had a name for his first born son. "And this little one...," The Assassin gestured to the bundle in Leonardo's arms, "How about...eh...?"_

_Carlotta smiled as Ezio struggled to think of anything, letting the man take their son from her so that she could have some rest. "Duccio is a good name."_

"_No!" Both Ezio and Leonardo snapped at once, "Anything but that, _bambina_...it is just so..." Ezio couldn't think of a word foul enough to describe Claudia's ex fiancé. _

"_Alright, alright...how about...Oh! I always liked Gio." They looked at her for a long moment, "You know, it is Giovanni but shortened, I always liked it." _

"_That was Ezio's _Padre's_ name." The artist said as he handed the baby to his father, "I think...I think it would be nice."_

_The man thought it over for a long moment, enjoying the barely there weight of his child and a yawn from his little one, "_Si_, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze."_

"_Hah, last time I checked we were not married and I have just spent a whole day in agony!" Carlotta said indignantly, "It should be Giovanni and Matteo Rossi da Venezia."_

**Istanbul**

_Yusuf grinned down at the baby in his arms, looking at every feature with wonderment, "_Memnun oldum_, Little one. We have waited and waited for you...like a dry well for the rain." He got a yawn from the bundle in his arms and grinned impossibly wider, "Your mother would appreciate it."_

_Speaking of his wife, Yusuf wandered back to the delivery room and let out a relieved breath to see silver eyes open and waiting expectantly for her son. "You had me worried, _Sigili_." He gave her the child and lounged by her side._

"_I just took a nap, little Devrim made me tired."_

"_Devrim?" He asked and rubbed at the short beard he was starting to grow, "Yasmina, I thought you did not like that name? Ah! You tricked me!"_

"_Like a whore with crabs."_

**1511 Cyprus**

Matteo walked a small circle on the spot, his arms thrown out as he gave a satisfied look to his twin, "Here we are! Constantinople, I told you we could trust that Captain!" He seemed proud of himself, straightening his robes out from the long trip and grinning like a fool, "_Padre_ is going to be surprised!"

"Captain?" Giovanni said indignantly, "He was a pirate! We have been slaving away on that damn ship, for a pirate! You sold us into temporary slavery to get here! If Papa finds out – you are dead!" Giovanni stared at the other in horror, he did know what they'd been doing didn't he? How much trouble they were in?

Matteo blinked in confusion, looking up innocently at his twin, "Me?"

"_Si_, you! It was your idea to follow him out here, your idea to get on a _pirate_ ship...we robbed a fishing boat...oh _Dio_...he is going to kill us. Bring us back with that apple thing and kill us again. We are dead." throwing his hands in the air, the younger paced back and forth irritably.

Matteo shrugged, "But we are in Constantinople."

"I do not think we are – I think we are in...China? India...probably France!"

"No, this is Constantinople." Matteo was certain, the nice captain had told him so.

"No...it is not."

The Auditore twins were what you would expect; handsome, mischievous, oozing with charm and trouble - much like their father. Matteo Auditore was first to be born, just a month after Ezio's thirty second birthday, his brother Giovanni Auditore, came just minutes after but the twin's birthdays were a day apart. Which, in Ezio's opinion, was a nuisance as they would have to throw two parties each year – which had to be identical or there would be headaches all round.

They were identical, this made life fun for them and hell for their victims, it made them efficient in teamwork and inseparable in everything they did. They both stood at just a little over six foot, sharing their father's amber tinted eyes but their mother's softer complexion and physique. Though both clearly men, their faces were not as strong as Ezio's, their bodies were leaner, muscle seeming to refuse to build on them but rather defining itself into lithe forms. Leonardo had once described them as birds - light and graceful with sharp talons. Their dark, brown hair was kept shoulder length, Giovanni liked to plait his whilst Matteo copied his father. Who had recently cut it all off...something about grey hairs. It was nigh on impossible to tell the two young men apart unless you knew what to look for – or your name was La Volpe, he knew them at a glance.

The real difference between them lay in their personalities, something Ezio and his closest friends had witnessed since the boys were babes, to anyone else outside the group the twins seemed exactly the same. Matteo was...well, he was his father's son. An outrageous flirt, large ego, an outgoing attitude when it came to having fun and being competitive – which usually meant Ezio had to stand there looking unamused, scolding his oldest on his behaviour, all the while trying to hide his amusement at the deed done. After all, Ezio had been just as bad at that age.

The younger brother was quite the opposite when left to himself, when he wasn't by his twin's side. He was quiet, almost shy and reserved. It gave the boy his own unique charm, people wanted to be around Matteo for the excitement and joy he would inspire and people wanted to be around Giovanni for the peace and tranquillity...especially women, they all wanted to look after him, to mother him. Ezio often thought Giovanni would have liked his grandfather and his uncle Petruccio, Giovanni channelled them well – Matteo was Federico and Ezio in one body.

Unfortunalty, Matteo often took advantage of his brother's shyness and took charge in most things – like getting them lost and following their father to a foreign country after specific orders not to. Leading to the current argument, "Well, where are we then, genius? I remember when you used to be more fun – what happened?"

"...Our mother died." He watched as Matteo's mouth jammed shut and how he physically sobered that this whole thing wasn't a joke. "We are not in Constantinople, _Fratello_."

"_Mio Dio_! Trust me!"

Laughter caught their attention as a man sat on the dock steps and watched the exchange. He wore the robes of an Assassin, a slight variation of the Italian style, more intricate with the designs and sash colours, a greyish silver instead of red and the classic white robe was a light mocha. His face was covered by a metal mask that bore no resemblance to an actual face. "Your brother is right, this is not Istanbul."

Matteo rolled his eyes at the stranger, "Of course it is not, it is Constantinople, no one mentioned bulls."

Another laugh came from the man and Giovanni sighed heavily, his head in his hands, "Matteo...Constantinople _is_ Istanbul. _Stupido_..." Shoving his brother and capturing him in a head lock, Giovanni gave a pleading look to the other Assassin, "Please, we need to get to Istanbul, our father is there and we want to join him but this...moron, he lost our money to a pirate. We can work to pay our way but we need the right boat." Matteo elbowed Giovanni sharply in the ribs and pulled out of the hold, the two scuffling for a minute before pushing away from one another like indignant children.

The Assassin stood up and meandered up to them leisurely, "I am going back, I have room in my cabin and I am sure we can think of an arrangement – Are you from Italy? Mentor Auditore's Brotherhood?"

"_S-si_...I am Giovanni Auditore and this is my brother, Matteo." He bowed his head a little and gave a smile. His golden eyes watching as a darkly tanned hand reached for the mask and pulled it away, his eyes widened a little as the young man's face was revealed...why...why did his heart just lurch in his chest? It was the accent, had to be, or the silver eyes or strong jaw or...he needed to stop staring!

The Turk gave an impish grin, ignoring Matteo completely as his eyes met Giovanni's, "My name is Devrim Tazim, son of Yusuf. It is my..." He seemed to think his words through carefully, as if his Italian was bad, "Complete pleasure to meet you, Giovanni." A clearing of a throat made him glance at the other, "Oh and you too...uh, Duccio?"

00

Devrim's ship cabin was simple, a single bed in the corner, a desk and stool, a trunk to keep clothing in and a few support beams running through, "I got them to knock the price down because of the beams, we can put a few hammocks up on them though!"

"Excellent, I am going to have a nose around the ship...and maybe those cute girls too." Matteo gave a sly smirk and beckoned to his brother, "Are you coming?"

"I think I will stay here, I feel a little sick..." He saw his twin frown and drop his hand from the door handle, "You go, I will be fine after some rest." Once again Matteo opened his mouth to object but Devrim quickly shot in,

"I will look after him, _Arkadaş_, you Italian flowers wilt when so far from home." If not for his charming smile, Devrim was sure one or both of the men would have decked him for the comment, as it was Matteo rolled his eyes and left the two alone.

For a while they simply organised their belongings, setting up two hammocks and securing the room – who knew when a potential threat would turn up, "Look at this, I think it is an old...uh, I do not know your word for it but it is a good escape route."

"Only if it comes out of the wall." Giovanni gave it a push and the cabin wall opened on a hidden hinge, "I think this ship sometimes carries illegal cargo. This probably leads to the top deck or maybe a lost catacomb."

"...inside the ship?"

"Papa finds catacombs in all the strangest places, he took us into the Duomo once – Matteo was green when we got to the top! Have you ever seen how far vomit splats from that height?"

"That...that is disgusting!" the Turk threw his head back and laughed, his hood falling to his shoulders as he did so, "Hilarious but disgusting!" Still chuckling, Devrim squinted into the darkened passageway, vaguely aware that Giovanni was staring at him again.

For Giovanni was finding it hard not to, Devrim was handsome, the same build as himself but a little broader, his features squarer and more masculine. Black stubble and shoulder length, wavy hair gave him a slightly scruffy look, like he woke up in the morning and just went about his day...unlike the Auditore's who took at least an hour or so. Giovanni half wished the man had kept his mask on, the second he'd seen him his stomach exploded in butterflies and this nervous energy choked him. And then those silver eyes were looking at him, attractive lips moving – shit.

The Italian blinked quickly and took a deep breath, "_Mi dispace_, I drifted...what did you say?"

"I said; my mask is not metal, if it were and I were hit in the face, my nose would break or be introduced to my brain. Masks get broken all the time, they only serve to hide an identity." At the others confused, yet fascinated, look, Devrim smirked again, "You asked what the 'deal' was with my mask. Though you were thinking out loud, I realise that now. I do not like to wear them but I have a great resemblance to my Baba, except I am younger and far more handsome, anyway it stops the guards jumping on me faster than a flea on a dog."

Giovanni tilted his head to the side, "Your father does not need to hide?" He had to say something, anything really, just so he didn't look like a fool who was infatuated with that gorgeous accent.

"He is a _little_ more skilled than I." they put the hidden door back together and stood, Devrim a little too close for Giovanni's comfort, making him take a step away – only to be followed. "How are you feeling? Still nervous?"

"N – nervous?" The younger assassin took a few more steps away, avoiding the tanned hand reaching for his head, "Do you mean nauseous? I, I am fine, sometimes I get a little...w-what are you doing?" he'd managed to back into a support beam and had the other barely a breath away, his face peering at him curiously.

Devrim grinned, "_Hayir_, I meant nervous. As to what I am doing – looking at you. Returning the favour as it were, for all the looks you have given me." he did just that, admiring the way a blush slowly crept upon olive skin. They were the same height, perfect for Devrim to notice pupils dilating in honey coloured eyes, giving him the courage to brush a thumb over day old stubble and follow an angular jaw, "You have such soft features for a man, your mother must be very pretty – not that you look in any way feminine! Just that I have glanced at your father and he has strong features." Giovanni gave him an eye roll and the Turk decided he was talking too much, "I struggle with your language, I can not express things like; _Gözlerin çok güzel_."

Swallowing hard, Giovanni avoided looking at the man, "_I vostri occhi sono bei_. Y-your eyes are beautiful...same as your fathers?"

"You know my language? And no, my mother's. Yours?"

"My father's."

Devrim nodded as nothing more was said, it was a little awkward standing so close to each other, "I am going to kiss you now."

"No, we are both men, I am not even interested, I like wome – mmph!" Well at least he'd attempted to protest...a little. The Turk's mouth was hot, his tongue as persistent as the Italian was to give him entrance and both pressed their bodies together like it could never be close enough. Giovanni pulled his mouth away suddenly, "Wait, wait! We are men!"

"Yes, if we were found out, you would be hung and I would be stoned to death," He bumped their noses and stole another kiss, "How old are you, Giovanni?"

"Twenty..."

"Have you been with a woman?"

"A few." Hands pulled Giovanni's hood down and began on the fastenings of the high collared shirt beneath.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"...it was...fine." His fingers twitched restlessly, indecisively until, Giovanni couldn't stop them from tangling into inky black hair.

"How many men have you been with?" A knee crept up between his legs and gave a firm rub. "Or are you pretending you are happy with faceless whores? I take it your twin does not even know about your taste...does anyone?"

Moaning quietly, Giovanni's head fell back against the beam to allow lips to trail beneath his chin, coarse stubble scraping against his throat, "Women to bed are far easier to find than men...and no...Matteo does not know." He was grinding down against Devrim's thigh, the man's voice exciting him with every deep, husky question, "A close family friend knew, L-Leonardo...he...he – Would you just fuck me already?"

Devrim chuckled, sending vibrations through the other as he began suckling against the skin of his neck, "As you wish, _güzel_. I promise to be gentle with you," His teeth scraped over Giovanni's neck, catching on a shallow ridge before the Turk found himself shoved forcefully away, hard enough to send him sprawling onto the floor. About to ask what the hell had just happened, his words died quickly in surprise as he saw the other sink to the floor, his right hand clasped firmly around the left side of his neck as if he'd been attacked. He looked...frightened? "Giovanni? Are you alright?" crawling over cautiously, the other man tried to figure out the problem but he saw none, just harsh, shallow breaths coming from kiss bruised lips, "Gio?"

"Hey, _Fratello_, those girls are fiery. The blonde is mine but the..." Matteo had waltzed through the door, too excited about his next conquest to notice the scene immediately, "Vanni, what happened?" He was by his twin's side with none of the hesitation Devrim was showing, arm slung over his shoulder and free hand holding the one cradling Giovanni's neck, understanding dawning in his amber eyes as he turned them on the Turk. "Did you touch his scar?"

"Scar?" There was no scar, was there? Though there had been a rough patch against his teeth before he'd been pushed away.

"_Si_! His scar! The on on his neck! What were you doing?" drawing his brother into him, Matteo glared daggers at the man, if he wasn't an assassin Matteo would have him gutted by now, "I swear if you were trying to hurt him – Brotherhood or no – I will kill you!" A pull on the Italian's robes made him look down at his twin,

"I...I...my collar was stuck. Devrim was helping and he brushed against it...it is alright – I am alright." straightening up, Giovanni took a stuttering breath and smiled meekly, "I am sure our new friend will...use his eyes more, next time."

Devrim sighed in relief at the heat still in the man's eyes as he looked at him, placing his hand over his heart, Devrim gave a lop sided grin and replied, "Next time I will be _thorough_ in my examinations."


	2. Chapter 2

**1511 Open Sea Five days out**

Matteo was a little wary of their new friend, it may have been his brother's panic attack after being left alone with the Turk or just the way Giovanni kept glancing over at him. Had they fought whilst he'd been away? It was a little difficult to believe it was an accidental touch, Matteo Knew for a fact that wouldn't cause the reaction his twin had – a brush would cause him to tense up and pull away, not have him curled up like a child. He was a little better as the years passed, allowing their friends to throw an arm over his shoulder without shoving them away; he still twitched uncomfortably when even their father got too close. Unfortunately, they were Italian and that meant everyone wanted to be touchy feely.

Now he knew his brother was shy but he wasn't a push over, he wouldn't let someone bully him or threaten him and he would never lie to Matteo, they shared everything...so what was with all the looks? "You are ignoring me!" Matteo looked at the woman sat on his lap and gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about what to do with you." He lied smoothly, his thoughts on his brother evaporating as he decided to end his four month, forced, celibacy.

00

"Will your brother be coming back soon?" Devrim asked conversationally as he quilled out a letter to his father, a pigeon had been cooing at him for days and it was about time he sent it home. Hearing light steps behind him, he put the quill down and was about to turn when hands rested on his shoulders. The fingers of Giovanni's left hand raked through his hair, "Mmm, I will take that as, 'he will be a while'"

"All night," the Italian murmured as his trailed his mouth along the other's jaw, teeth nipping almost gently, testing. "He has not seen a woman in four months and he is a whore...so we have some time...if..."

Devrim's head tilted to the side, offering his throat to the other assassin, "'If' what? If I am not put off with being shoved around? Forget it, I understand." He got up from the chair and walked Giovanni backwards towards the bed, "Your brother has been refusing to leave us alone and as endearing as that is, it is a little frustrating that I have been unable to touch you..." A sly smile came across his lips as he sat Giovanni down, "I promise not to use my teeth this time."

Giovanni returned the smile, reaching up to pull Devrim down over him, "I like teeth, just careful where you use them." He wished the other would shut up about it already, he wasn't going to break over the incident – he was embarrassed, yes. It shouldn't have to dominate how the other treated him though. What would his father do in such a situation? Likely draw a target on himself and flaunt it. That might help? Sitting up again, Giovanni pushed Devrim so that the Turk was straddling his legs and not his hips, "Let us get this out of the way." Beginning to undo his shirt a chuckle caught his attention, looking up he saw a raised eyebrow, "Do not get too excited."

"With this methodical strip tease? I know we are dressed down but you could try a little harder or let me do it." he reached for the shirt to 'help'.

"Methodical? I thought your Italian was basic. Keep your hands to yourself for a moment."

"_Ne_?" Devrim gave a frustrated sigh and backed off with an annoyed eye roll, "I know you have not been with a man but it has the same rules as with a woman – touching is a little important...can I use my tongue?"

"Devrim! You are _terribile_." a blank look, "_korkunç_ – just shut up and let me show you." His shirt pooled down to his elbows and he turned his head to the side, exposing the jagged, white scar that started from just under his left ear to his Adams apple. He saw a tanned hand reaching for it and flinched, "_Si prega di non fare_...I can not stand it." Devrim dropped his hand but shifted in closer, his breath close enough to leave goosebumps on the other, he had questions, hundreds of questions though he was unsure how to ask them. Maybe a simple response? 'Well that looks nasty, can we fuck now?' didn't seem appropriate. "I was seven, out with my mother and brother in _Roma_ when we were jumped. Just a random attack, bad luck on everyone's part."

"Mostly yours from the looks of it – does it hurt? How the hell did you survive?" It looked deep, surely deep enough to be a killing cut in normal circumstances.

"I fared a little better than some." He faced forward again, jumping a little when his lips brushed against the Turk's; he hadn't realised how close he was. "After..." With the other so close he felt the need to lower his voice to an almost whisper, "After _Papa_ had...well, when he realised I was there - "

The older man cut in with a confused look, "Realised?" There was a chunk missing from this story, usually he wouldn't let something like that slip – this could wait, no. It had to wait until Giovanni was ready. "Carry on, your father found you and then?"

"I want a kiss first." Giovanni hadn't meant to get this involved with the story, he'd wanted to make Devrim aware that he had a weak spot and hopefully avoid a similar scene a few days prior, "I meant to take advantage of being alone with you and am doing a poor job of it." He was pleased that his demand was met promptly and without any comforting pity. Just an enthusiastic meeting of eager mouths that opened to the other with a chink of teeth. The enthusiasm seemed to spread to Devrim's once obedient hands as they grasped at a naked waist, stroking firmly upwards, deft fingers digging into firm muscle along the way, until finally his calloused thumb rubbed over an erect nipple causing a delicious moan to fall into the Turk's mouth.

Pushing Giovanni down onto the mattress, Devrim took his original place back on top of the other's hips and was pleased with the growing tent in...were those actually leather trousers? That would be interesting to tease him with later, for now his favourite Auditore was unconsciously mewling into his mouth and rubbing his crotch up against him – poor boy was desperate for male attention! Being right handed, Devrim slid his mouth from the other's and naturally made his way to the left of Giovanni's throat; without missing a beat he sat up instead – it was going to be a bitch to avoid that scar. "Your father found you and then?" he panted out as he admired the half naked assassin, fingers running through the thin patch of hair on his chest, "Do you shave your chest?" The look on his face would have been funny if not for how alienated it made the other feel.

"I...might have..." he blushed brightly and licked his lips in a nervous habit, "Matteo thought it would be funny, not all Italian men primp and polish like women."

"You two spent half an hour brushing and tying your hair." Oh but that blush was adorable, "You are changing the subject and you will have no more of this," He ground himself against his partner teasingly, "Unless you answer my question. How did you survive?"

A firm hold on his hips prevented Giovanni from getting the friction he wanted and he let out a frustrated noise, "Enough pressure to keep me from bleeding out until he got me to a _dottore_, happy now?"

"How much pressure? Show me." Show him? How did he do that? He was being teased again, he just knew it. The last four days had shown Giovanni that Devrim had a wicked sense of humour and quick wit – enough to keep the twins in stitches and high spirits. He also got a rise out of riling people up, testing people's boundaries and revelling in it. Fine, if he could satisfy the man's curiosity he might just get his own satisfaction. Giovanni licked his lips again and hesitantly placed his hand upon the other's neck, his own pulse fluttered as he felt the steady beat of a jugular on his palm and he steeled himself as he began to squeeze. "That is all? Hardly enough to staunch any blood." Devrim's hand abandoned its exploration of naked chest and covered the one on his throat, applying poor pressure and restricting his air flow a little, "Could you breath freely? Could you speak?"

Oh...oh! Giovanni's amber eyes widened a little in realisation – this was turning the Turk on. "I guess it is true that the Turks like to live dangerously." A pleased laugh came from Devrim and he rewarded the other with the rocking of his hips, friction blessedly received. And then Giovanni dropped his hand to the bed, "How about I get something I want first?"

It was like he'd said 'please ravish me to within an inch of my life' the way Devrim dove down onto him, hands working at the ties of his trousers, mouth, lips and teeth working on his neck and shoulder. He couldn't get his length free soon enough, the relief making him shiver to be free of the confining leather, he couldn't remember ever being this hard or aroused in his life and thanked the unknown deity that had seen fit to give him this man. "Take your clothes off."

Sitting up, Devrim pulled his linen top up over his head and slung it across the cabin before starting on his bottoms eagerly, "Why, if this is so wrong, do they make men like you so fucking arousing?"

"Same reason they make it hard to find men like you willing to plough us senseless." Giovanni wrapped his hand around himself in his eagerness, moaning wantonly at the light touch, relieved that some of the tension ebbed – he'd never wanted sex so bad in his life...and he wasn't even drunk! "What are you waiting for?"

The Turk had paused in his undressing and was staring intently as the other stroked himself. He had a few witty remarks to make but they were caught with the lump in his throat; wasn't the younger Auditore brother supposed to be shy? This wasn't shy, this was wanton and oh so very confident in his own skin. He didn't even force an answer from his throat as he leant his head down and sunk his teeth into Giovanni's chest, the Italian swore blindly as he arched into the ache and had to squeeze his length harder in an effort not to come too soon. Devrim laid out over him, teeth giving little nips as he went until he reached that eager mouth again, distracting the other as he rubbed his cock against Giovanni's and bought a hand to wrap around them both, "I am not going to fuck you tonight," he panted into his ear. "Or any night soon. I am going to tease and torture you until you beg me – on your knees – to please, please take you." he could feel him throbbing excitedly in his hand, precum streaming steadily over both their palms as they stroked and ground against each other. "What has you so excited, _güzel? _You are so close already, are you that eager to let me stretch you open on my cock?"

He was going to come with those dark words alone, and he would beg and scrape and fall onto his knees and...oh God, yes – yes – he want so much to be stretched and filled. "Y-yo-ah...hah – D-Devrim...! ..._L__a voce, oh Dio ho intenzione di_ – nnnngh!" It was nearly painful the way his muscles seized as his orgasm hit him harder than he'd ever known and he wasn't sure when exactly he had turned into a boneless heap on the bed. He was panting heavily, vaguely aware of a hand trailing up and down his side, a wet mouth on his skin and he was confused how he'd gone from a body overload to this lethargic state. Bringing his hand up to run through the loose strands of his hair, Giovanni frown when Devrim grabbed his wrist.

"You do not want our release in your hair." Giovanni stared at the mess on his palm and frowned, "You look confused." came the extremely smug voice of Devrim, also the warm weight over him, "You started babbling so fast I could barely understand you and then – boom – you went off harder than a gunpowder bomb; except you did not make a sound, just this silent 'o' – it was gorgeous."

"I am ruined..." He groaned tiredly, "A woman will never make me hard again." He didn't need to hear the hearty laughter to know that the vibration against his body was the other in hysterics.


	3. Chapter 3

**Istanbul 1511**

Yusuf was having a problem – sort of. A pigeon had arrived for him and the damned, flying rat would not let him catch it, he was currently sat on the ground cross legged, a string in his fingers that led to a stick, which was holding up a box with tempting bird food under it. He could be patient. He hoped the note was tied so tight to the feathered creatures leg that it fell off! "_Salve_, Yusuf...what are you doing? Ezio had already guessed by the elaborate set up but it was amusing all the same, "Problems?"

"...I just wanted to see if this kind of trap would work," Yusuf said as if this was normal, "If it does, we build a larger version and all our problems are solved, _evet_?

"Would you like me to catch the pigeon?"

"No."

Ezio laughed at the petulance there, the man sounded like a spoilt child and was that a pout on the mighty leader's lips! He approached the bird confidently, kneeling near it – with a crack of aging bones that earned him a laugh - "Come here, you." It cooed curiously as the Master's outstretched fingers, head twitched from left to right before marching to him and being picked up, "Finesse, Yusuf, not everything can be fixed with a bomb...or ridiculous trap."

"Luck." The Turk muttered as he took the note from the bird and unrolled it, "Pure luck."

"No." He said confidently, pigeon now cooing whilst sat on his hand, "Female pigeon – I told you, the women can not resist my charms." That earned him a raised eyebrow and blank stare before Yusuf shook his head and read the message; his disbelieving eyes began twinkling as a little smile played on his lips. "What is it?"

The Turk indicated they walk with a nod of his head, message being slipped into one of the many, many pockets, "My son is on a ship home and he has...companions, a couple of lost Italians he met at the docks in Cyprus. He mentioned they were part of your Brotherhood."

"They should not be, I left specific orders that they carry out their work on that side of the world – were there names?" He knew the answer before he received it, Yusuf's man would not write names or specifics in case the letter was compromised. So which of his men had disobeyed him? "When will they arrive?"

"Two and a bit months? Providing the sea is good to them, Devrim is a magnet for fortune so all should be well."

"Devrim? Your son?" They ducked into an alley as a small group of guards made their rounds, "I did not see you as a terror to women." He smirked at the grin on the other's face, he was such a child at times, "Only child?"

Yusuf shook his head and held up six fingers, laughing merrily at the jaw drop he received, "Five boys, one girl and one wife – Look on your face, Ezio!" The man looked like he was having a heart attack – oh wait, was he? "Are you alright, old man?"

"Si...just surprised, I would have thought to have seen them by now."

"Devrim has been doing some work in Cyprus for me, the two guys who nearly blew their arses off yesterday are mine, my youngest son and daughter 'work' in the palace." They were back to slinking through the streets towards Gelata Tower, Yusuf chatting away about his children, The eldest son being mentioned often but as they got further Ezio realised something and slowed as they cut across the cemetery toward the hideout.

"That is only five children you mention, you have missed one out."

"No, I have not." He came to a stop, something the Italian expected him to do, this spot they stood in, Yusuf always stopped for a moment and then carried on like nothing had happened. Only he didn't start walking again. "I never miss any of them out, he is here," He crouched in front of a couple of markers, "Sef pushes all the flowers to the surface and his mother," He gestured to the other marker, "She makes them beautiful...they died of fever a year or so ago – I try not to remember exactly when."

Ezio didn't quite know how to react. "I am sorry, Yusuf."

"It just pisses me off that it was not something I could fight..." He sounded bitter, his body tight and angry for a moment before he sighed loudly and stood, his usual façade back in place, "What about you, Ezio, any children to speak of?"

"About a hundred bastards or so," They laughed at that, the Turk needed a small distraction and Ezio was happy to provide it, "I helped raise two of them, though. Twins. Their mother was model for a friend of mine and we got a little too drunk; next thing I know, Leonardo is telling me he has rigged my gun to explode on my wrist and that he may or may not undo it depending on my willingness to become a father." Yusuf tilted his head asking if that was what Ezio wanted, "I was excited, this was the first time I was going to see any child of mine, I was thirty two, last male in my line and Carlotta was a catch – beautiful, smart and fiery, my favourite kind. No one ever expected twins, or for them to be so damn awkward. Matteo was born before the midnight bell tolled and then Giovanni pops out when the bell stops – Birthdays are ridiculous!" He'd been so happy though, more than he'd thought he'd be.

Yusuf smiled, he knew that kind of feeling, holding a mewling, puking mess and telling it it is adorable, "Did you Marry Carlotta?"

"No, we did not want to and it suited us fine...I did not love her." Not in that sense, she was close to his heart but never in it.

"But you love your boys?"

"..._Si_." They'd finally made it into the building and into the library, "Of course I do, what kind of question is that?

"Sooo," Yusuf saw Ezio close his eyes, knowing that when he drew out his words it was usually to drop something on him, "Say if -IF – they were to magically appear with my son on the docks, you, being a loving father would obviously embrace them and welcome them with the biggest of grins – Like a child full of sugar in a pottery shop."

Matteo and Giovanni were on a ship? Matteo, he knew would attempt to follow him, the boy was his personal shadow, and impossibly stubborn when he wanted something and he was strangely desperate to come on this mission. Giovanni though...No, Ezio knew that his youngest was simply following his brother, keeping him safe and grounded – keeping them from getting completely lost. Giovanni wouldn't follow Ezio if he were told to keep away...sometimes struggled to stay in the same room; complicated.

But they had still disobeyed him! "Yusuf, when those boys set foot on those docks – I am going to kill them and then bring them back...and then I will kill them again!"

"...Will you at least cuddle their corpses?"

00

**Open sea 10 days out 1511**

Devrim glared out over the sea, its rough, grey waters reflecting his mood at that particular moment. He and Giovanni stole moments together in Matteo's absence, kisses, grinding and the very occasional hand inside each other's trousers as they stroked the other to completion. It was good, sometimes very good but it wasn't enough to always be waiting for the older brother to return. Yesterday for instance, had been a nightmare, the second Matteo had left the cabin, Giovanni was on him like a man possessed! He'd pinned Devrim to the support beam, thigh massaging persistently against his crotch and the Italian had used his forearm to pin Devrim there by the throat – he'd nearly messed himself then and there. And then...they'd heard Matteo returning and went back to themselves, both solid as a rock. Devrim had to excuse himself to finish himself, the near choking one of his more shameful turn ons – Like how Giovanni liked being bitten. Not nips and scrapes, _bitten_. Hard enough to leave an imprint but not break the skin, his chest, hips and thighs were covered in Devrim's marks.

That wasn't the problem though, he could understand their need to be secret, they would be killed if discovered but it was making him ridiculously horny. They'd had a golden opportunity less than an hour ago and one little slip had ruined all the work Devrim had achieved in getting Giovanni to trust him with his body. Devrim had bitten him, enthusiasticly so...directly on that bastard scar – he knew it would be trouble from the start! It was on the wrong side of Giovanni's neck, if it were on the right he could avoid it no problem. It was an accident but it had earned him a bruised jaw and a complete shut down...

"_Giovanni?" Devrim tried to pull the man into an embrace but was being fought the entire time. The Italian struggling to get away, his breathing erratic as panic tore at him, "Gio! Gio, I am sorry, so sorry. Please calm down, I did not mean to, shh...I am sorry." He held tighter to the other, still fighting to keep him in the bruising hug. Why wasn't he calming as he had done for his brother? "What can I do?" This was his fault, he should have been careful! "Please stop fighting me – does it hurt? Giovanni!"_

"_What did you do?" Devrim looked up with wide eyes as Matteo rushed over, taking his brother from the Turk and almost crushing him; Giovanni fighting even his twin as he looked around wildly, golden eyes wide and frightened as he gasped in air. "It is alright, they are dead, no one is going to hurt us." The shaking didn't calm much so Matteo tucked his brother's head under his chin and glared at the Turk, his voice lowering as his hostility rose, "Just get out. I will come find you."_

So here he was, waiting for the wrath of the Eldest Auditore to come down on him. What was the deal with that scar – was it painful? It couldn't be just that, what had Matteo said? 'they are dead' what was that all about? Something had happened a long time ago, Devrim had seen traumatised people before and now that he thought about it, it explained everything.

"What the fuck were you doing!" Matteo hissed as he stalked toward the Turk, "I can not get him to talk to me! He is shaking so hard I can barely hold onto him, do you know how difficult it will be to calm him now? If he does not go into shock that is!"

Shit, he hadn't meant any of this, it was an accident, "We...we were..." It would be easier if he could tell the truth, how would Matteo react to his brother wanting men? "Sparring. I grabbed him – I did not think! You need to tell me what happened to him, Matteo, I may be able to help him."

"Are you a _Dottore_? Do you know how to cure him of your stupidity?" Devrim opened his mouth to answer but Matteo shoved him into the side, fists wound tightly in the assassin's robes as he leant him over the edge, "How the hell do you think you can help?"

If he pissed the other off any more, Devrim was certain he'd be thrown over board, the only reason Matteo didn't have a blade in him was because he was doing what any brother would. He couldn't count the amount of fights he'd picked when his younger siblings were involved, he knew the kind of blinding rage that the other had and he understood, "Matteo...I am not a Doctor, I do know some things about traumatised people though, if I knew what was wrong I could...talk to him?" He thought that was how it was done, sometimes it could be talked out of a person...sometimes the person went insane – it was a little hit and miss.

"Talk." He spat, "Talk! Like that has ever worked – w-we do not talk about it."

That sounded quite defensive to the older man, a slight waver in the word 'we', "You and Gio?"

"All of us; him, me, _Padre_, our friends – it does not help! And...stop calling him that!"

"Why not? It is a mouthful, like - "

"Shut up!" He shook him angrily, "Do not make a joke of this! It is not funny!" Devrim's hands came up in surrender and Matteo took a deep breath, he was letting his hot headiness take control and that would not fix anything – but it would feel good to knock the other's teeth out. "You can call him Vanni," He said in a lower tone, almost tired, "Leonardo and Mama can call him Gio...no one else and...and we do not talk about it." Letting go of him, Matteo took a step back, his hands threading through his hair in frustration, "I do not know what to do...Leo always helped him." He wouldn't need the artist though if it weren't for Devrim – he knew something was up the second Giovanni stared at him at the dock, like he was frozen. "_Bastardo_!" He struck out and the recovering man. Devrim not prepared for the attack stumbled toward the edge and in a flurry of mocha material vanished over the side, Matteo chasing him wildly, "Devrim!"

The Turk stared up at him with eyes the size of saucers, thanking his training and hook blade that he wasn't fish food, golden eyes, the same size as his, stared down in shock at him. He could hardly give him shit for an accident when he'd just tossed him off the boat. Climbing up the assassin punched the other in the arm and puffed out a relieved breath, "See how easily a mistake is made?"

"...I am still angry with you..." He swore his heart was going to escape his chest; he made a little gesture on his chest, like opening a little door and breathed deep.

"What was that?"

"I was letting the trapped bird out of my chest..." A look, "Leo used to make us do it when we were little to calm down after a scare – do not laugh at me!"

"Alright, alright..." snickering quietly, Devrim retracted his hook blade and pulled himself together with a smirk, "You two are adorable."

"Shut up..." They were quiet now, Matteo's anger ebbing and Devrim was back to his musings until the other interrupted, "What is that on your blade?

00

**Venice 1495**

"_Leonardo! Leonardo!"_

"_Leo!"_

_The blonde artist looked up from his blueprints to stare at the two little boys running into his workshop, he grinned foolishly at them and with his arms wide, crouched to their height as they barrelled into him, "Piccoli angeli!" He hugged them tightly as they both chatted wildly at him, all big, gold eyes, messy hair and dirty hands – the usual for two excitable four year olds. "What have you been doing?" He heard 'wall' and 'mud' and 'Papa stole a horse!' - Ah, they were with Ezio today. That explained their untidy appearance and why they were so hyper active, Ezio always gave them sweets, "How exciting, now go and wash your hands...and your face Matteo, then come back to me." They nodded and quickly ran past._

"_Did I hear you call them angels? Because they are anything but..." Ezio sunk down onto the nearest chair with a massive sigh, "'Papa, teach us to climb', 'Papa, we're hungry', 'Papa, I feel sick' followed by actual vomit to illustrate his point. 'Papa, that man wants his horse back'" He hadn't explained that it was a messenger's horse and he needed the guards not to arrest him. He loved them to pieces but they exhausted him! How did their Mother do it? How did Leonardo get them to behave so nicely? "I feel so old, Leo...how did this happen to me?"_

_Leonardo shrugged his shoulder, "You put your _Pene_ in a woman." It had meant to have been a jab for sleeping with his friend but the absolutely gleeful look on the assassin's face made him do a double take; why did he look so..._

"_Why would a _Pene_ go in...a...you are very strange Leo." Matteo was gazing up at him in confusion, his face still wet from washing off the dirt. He had the most annoying habit of appearing silently and hearing all the wrong things._

_And Ezio was always there to alienate his friends, "Yes, Leo. Why would I do such a thing?" The older twin climbed up onto his father's lap and both stared at the blonde. It was maddening how they looked so similar and both always tag teamed him in awkward conversations. He was not having the 'sex talk' with Ezio's child – wasn't doing it!_

"_Leonardo, what is this?" And there was Giovanni to save him – blessed boy! _

_Relieved beyond belief, Leonardo turned away from his torturers and to the boy examining his latest test piece, self propelled objects. "Ah, well this is something I've been working on, Gio." Picking the boy up and placing him on the table, Leonardo began going into detail, showing him how some of the components worked and answering all of the curious boy's questions. Giovanni loved finding out how things worked and the blonde loved showing him, teaching him. Matteo only like the things that exploded and so was content to let his father help him with his reading instead of joining in on the excited chatter about cogs and springs. _

_00_

"Vanni, Vanni...He is so still..." Giovanni could hear his twin clear as day, he just didn't want to uncurl from his protective little ball, he was cold and scared and his neck was throbbing painfully, "Giovanni, _parli con me_..._lo elemosino..._please..." He felt a body settle close behind him, hugging him close as a hand searched for his and held it, "Want to see something really clever? Something even uncle Leonardo never thought of."

That sounded interesting. He gave a squeeze to the hand in his, not ready to talk yet but fascinated all the same, "Do you want to see?" A slow nod. Hearing some shuffling going on in the room, Giovanni tightened his grip on Matteo and received a reassuring squeeze back.

Devrim appeared in front of him, a sorry look on his face as he knelt on the floor and rested his elbows on the bed's mattress, "_Aşık yüz bulduğu yerde yatar kalır. _And I have not been kind...I am so, so, so sorry, please forgive my stupidity." Giovanni was suddenly glad his brother barely spoke a word of Turkish, he vaguely translated it as 'a lover lies down and stays the night where he is treated kindly'. Oddly romantic, it made his coldness melt a little but that might be the Turk's voice or the fact that he knew he wasn't really cold; he just remembered that he had been cold once...

"Your brother told me that you like curious things – how about this?" Devrim extended his arm and released his blade. It looked like any hidden blade until he spotted the addition, an intricately carved eagles head that formed into a hook. "At home, many of our rooftops have ropes spanning across them. This hook allows us to slide along them, we can hook into our enemies and pull them towards us...or to go over them – which is fun, the looks on their faces is better than a cherry bomb in a library."

"C-ch...bomb?" The hook blade was interesting but why would you put fruit in a bomb? He saw the tanned man smile, blade sliding back inside the bracer.

"Evet! It distracts guards, we have many kinds of bomb, not just smoke – I will show you when we arrive, I will ask my father if he will let me teach you to make them...would you like that?" A hand combed through Giovanni's loose hair, he flinched at first and held onto Matteo's hand, "Oh, Gio..." Another flinch, "Vanni...I never meant to hurt you." Silver eyes flicked to glance at Matteo and then returned to him, then quick as lightning he asked, "What happened, Giovanni? When you got that scar what happened to scare you so much?"

Matteo sat up, "I told you! We do not speak about it! What kind of - "

"And who said to keep it quiet?" Devrim snapped back, "What is so damn secret!"

"Papa said..." He could feel them both looking at him and shrunk back into himself, "He said never to talk about it...about what I saw..." Matteo was right. No one spoke about the day their mother died, the day his throat was cut or what he'd seen.

His brother leant over him, his eyebrows drawn in concern, "You saw them kill Mama. That is enough to shock anyone, He only wanted you to forget about it, Vanni." Shaking his head and closing his eyes tightly, Giovanni bit into his bottom lip – That wasn't it. "What then?"

"_Il Diavolo_..."


	4. Chapter 4

**1498 Venice**

_Carlotta rolled her eyes as she watched her children try to dress themselves, they were so silly sometimes. She picked up a few of their toys, and some of Leonardo's things from the floor and placed them on top of the table; she needed her own home. Between the hyper active and excitable twins, oh and the artist, a constantly exasperated Salai and steady supply of people wanting commissions she was finding life a little hard. She needed to ask Ezio if he would help her get a little apartment, especially as Leonardo was ready to move on to a new location, or a place in Monteriggioni? Mario had often extended the offer and the boys loved their great uncle and their grandmother, oh and Claudia was just the most exciting aunt in the entire world. Yes, she liked that idea._

"_Matteo, Gio, hurry up or your uncle Antonio will get your father to do something ridiculous again." Like fly into the Doge's palace in one of Leonardo's machines – sure that had been so many years ago but really? He could have died! "Gio, what is that?" _

"_One of uncle Antonio's lock picks, I picked it last week after he gave us our lock picking lesson – I was going for his money but this was easier." Carlotta's jaw dropped, Antonio and La Volpe were teaching the boys such bad habits, _

"_Well...just...be careful with it, looks like a giant needle." She tied her purse to her hip and beckoned to the boys, "Salai, make sure Leonardo eats today! I will be back later." Tiny hands took hers and the three left the work shop._

00

**1511 Open sea**

Devrim kissed the top of Giovanni's head, they were hidden away in a lifeboat covered with its protective top, no one would disturb them and the filtered light was soothing. He was laid out comfortably with Giovanni resting on top of him, his fingers playing with silky strands of hair as the Italian talked about the morning his family was attacked. The first time he'd spoken in nearly a week...

"_I want to talk to you." Giovanni said quietly as he grabbed the Turk's wrist._

_Devrim stopped and eyed the hand on him, a slight tremor in the fingers, "O-of course, I am just happy to hear your voice again," He reached for the other's face and dropped it miserably when Giovanni pulled his head away, "Sorry..." The other had been jumpy since their little incident, no one but Matteo able to approach him easily._

"_No...I am, I have this ridiculous fear inside me and I want to tell you." He had heard his brother and Devrim arguing about him; Matteo wanted to never speak about the issue again, to sweep it under the carpet but Devrim said talking about it would help – that it needed to be out in the open or the panic attacks could get worse. Giovanni didn't want to fear being touched his whole life, when the scar had been bitten it didn't hurt, it was strangely sensitive and it was simply a memory that made him lash out. "Let me tell you what happened – You can help fix me."_

"_You are not broken."_

The boat rocked lightly and they both sighed, this was cosy, they didn't need to claw and grind against each other to be together, something peaceful like this was just as satisfying, "What happened next?" Devrim asked as his arms tightened a little around the other, letting him know he wasn't alone and that he was not going anywhere.

00

**Venice**

_She was lost, Venice was a maze at time and she'd been so distracted with the boys that she'd taken a wrong turn. They were next to the canal in a run down part of the city, she could hear the busy markets but they had wandered far from it, "Angeli, hold Mama's hands tight, we are going back the way we came."_

"_Mama, are we lost?" Matteo asked in an unsure whisper, he didn't like this place. His mother let go of his hand and crouched down a little, kissing his head and telling him they were going to be alright before kissing the end of Giovanni's nose. The boys smiled bravely for her and they began to back track._

"_Salve, madonna," a man's voice was heard before he appeared before them, four more men behind him blocking the way out of the dead end. "What is such a pretty thing doing here...are you taking the little boys somewhere?" They spread out until the men surrounded the little family, each man filthy and obviously the usual cut throats that ran a muck in the city. "Why not let us take the boys out of the way and we can help you with directions?" A snicker echoed around her as she brought the twins closer to herself, little arms wrapping around her waist as the boys realised they were in trouble, she knew those arms were Giovanni's; he always held onto her when he was frightened. Matteo would cower in close but he never clung, he was trying to be brave like his father._

_He glared at the men before looking at his brother's frightened eyes and then up at his mother as she held tighter to his hand. "If you do not leave us alone, you will be sorry." The men laughed at him, throwing comments to each other about him being 'too big for his boots' and if they should piss themselves in fear. A pull on his hand put him off balance and he fell into his mother. They were trying to take his brother. "Let him go!"_

"_Mama!" Giovanni's grip faltered on his mother's dress and he reached for Matteo's outstretched hand._

"_Gio! Let him go! Leave him alone!" Arms came around the woman and dragged her from the children, "Get the fuck off me! I swear you will regret this! Matteo! Giovanni!"_

"_Mama!" They both yelled as they held tight to one another, the men trying to separate them but failing as the boys used their teeth and feet against them. "Leave her alone!" Giovanni yelled and plunged Antonio's stolen lock pick into a meaty hand. _

_The man ripped his hand away and yowled as the metal tore more of his skin. "Little shit!" He pulled the metal out and grabbed Giovanni around the waist, his fist knocking Matteo aside and to the floor. Giovanni struggled seeing his brother holding a bloody nose but soon ceased as he felt something hard and cold against his throat, Matteo's eyes widening in horror was the only thing stopping the younger twin from renewing his struggles. "You had to make things hard, all we wanted was your money and maybe a little fun with your mother – you little brats had to act up though; did your father not teach you any manners!"_

_No one had dared to move, Matteo spat a mouthful of blood onto the stone, his face and clothing stained red with blood, eyes looking only at the blade on his brother's throat. Carlotta stood frozen even as hands groped at her, the material of her dress being torn hardly an issue when her baby was in such danger, "You can have the money...Dio...y-you can have me just let them go, they are children, just let them go and you can have whatever you want..." She didn't care what happened to her as long as the twins were safe. "Where will they go? Just let them go...please."_

_They looked at one another, the men deciding on the course of action, having Giovanni by knife point had made the situation a lot quieter and the woman was compliant – and they were just kids. "You can go, kid." Matteo looked over at his mother helplessly and then to his brother, "I will look after this guy so your mother does not give us any trouble and if they behave you can have them back later."_

"_No!" Matteo yelled as he stood unsteadily, his vision fuzzy from the earlier strike, "I am not going!"_

"_Matteo!" Carlotta snapped at him, her heart breaking at the hurt look in his honey eyes, "Matteo," She said it gently this time, "Find Papa, tell him we will be home a little late..." This loosely translated to; find your father so he can teach these thugs a lesson. "Please go...I will look after your brother because Gio is going to be a good boy..." She glanced at her youngest, he was sniffling unhappy at being separated from them both but he nodded as best he could with the knife still on him._

00

**1511**

"So he went, he really did not want to leave. He had cried and practically begged Mama not to make him leave but they got impatient and threatened me again...so Matteo ran. I think he ran into one of Antonio's men and from there they worked on rescuing us." Giovanni shifted his body so that he was laid out along Devrim's side, one hand cradling his neck gently, it felt as if it were throbbing maybe it was his body remembering the ache of serrated skin, the other arm was slung carelessly across the Turk's waist, his head resting on the other's chest, "They were like wolves, tearing at her clothing as they laughed and jeered...if I could have saved her – I would have! I would have fought them..."

Devrim frowned to himself, "I know you would have, you were only seven though, you had a knife to your throat...there was nothing you could have done." How easy it was to blame yourself for something; how often had Devrim argued with his father that he couldn't fight sickness, that it wasn't his fault and that he'd done what he could for their family? "You did not let them hurt her – I am certain if you could have you would have gnawed at their ankles if that was all you could do."

"If I had not angered that bastard then he would never have thought to hold me hostage. She did not fight them, did not even yell at them as they...they..." Giovanni felt a comforting hand on his back, Devrim didn't need to speak to let him know he didn't have to force himself and that he understood this was hard. He couldn't tell him...not about how those men beat and raped his mother in front of him...she didn't make a sound and it was all for him – to keep him safe. "I could not stand it...and I thrashed, I just wanted to help her and I did not even notice when I slipped."

Devrim's eyes opened a little wider, "Slipped?" he had always assumed the cut had been on purpose.

"_Si_, I kicked him in the groin and he dropped me, the knife was not very sharp and I think that is the only reason I survived...they all had gone quiet...and I remember walking towards Mama, but it was slow and I couldn't breathe properly, I fell down and there was a scream." The Italian bit his lip in thought, had he fallen into the canal? Or down a step? Either way he had lost sight of everyone for a long moment, "The next thing I know Papa is holding me." Giovanni felt Devrim sit up, his hands making him do the same and then he was staring into unhappy, silver eyes.

"Giovanni." it was such a disappointed sound, "There is an awful lot missing there. You saw more than that, you told me that your father 'realised' you were there the first time you told me about your scar. When did he arrive? What happened between you falling and your father picking you up? What did he have you stay silent about?" Giovanni looked away, his body pulling away instinctively but Devrim just held him tighter, "What about this..._Diavolo_? That is a demon? Or a devil or something, _evet_?"

"I-I...did not see..." A harsh shake had him wanting to escape the life boat, he couldn't talk about this, he didn't want to remember it after trying so hard to forget it. "I was a child, I do not know what I saw...I do not want to talk about this any more!"

"You need to."

"What good will it do?"

"You want to freeze up every time someone touches this," Like lightning, Devrim pinned the other to the bottom of the boat, the distress of the other helping him. The Turk slowed at the last moment, his lips touching barely to the scar, letting his breath wash over it as he placed the tiniest of kisses along the abused skin. Giovanni shook under him, forcing himself to hold fast and not strike out, he could do this...and Devrim wouldn't try to hurt him. "How can I begin to love you if you hide yourself from me? You came to me...you wanted to tell me – not your brother – me. So please...I will not think you mad or judge you...I will not even speak if you wish it..."

Giovanni let out a sad sob.

00

**Venice**

_Matteo burst into Antonio's office,a few thieves behind him as they rushed in after the child, "Papa!" He saw Ezio sat by the fire, at first he was surprised but then Matteo saw how his face changed to an almost panicked look, "Papa..." He was crying hard, the tears mixing with his bloody face as he reached bloody hands up towards his father. Ezio picked him up easily, checking the boy over for something other than a broken nose._

"_Where is your mother? Where is Gio?" Matteo wailed louder as his father asked, and somewhere between his crying and need for comfort, was able to briefly tell them what had happened. Ezio handed the child to Rosa and left with inhuman speed. Using his eagle vision, the assassin tracked the small trail his son had taken to find him, anger growing every time he found bloody hand prints on the walls or where Matteo had spat up. His memories drifted to his father, his brothers, as they were hung, the way there bodies had been left like rubbish in the street – he had sworn never to let his family get hurt again. Going as far to hide what he was from the twins, never wanting them to follow his path._

_And then he was there, holding Carlotta as she bled heavily onto the ground, the pool slipping off the stone and into the filthy Venetian waters. There were bodies strewn around him, savaged. Some had been gutted, their entrails pulled out of their bodies, severed fingers, hands and at some point, entire limbs were laying close by, some still twitching. He could hear the gurgle of two of the thugs who were barely still alive near to him and he nearly shook as he surveyed the gory scene. What had torn then to shreds? Surely this wasn't a human...even ten men couldn't do this? Tear limbs off and gut five men...crush skulls. "E-Ezio..."_

_He turned his eyes to hers, the macabre scene forgotten as he looked at her, "I am here, I...I should have come sooner – I should have picked the boys up myself...You will be alright. We will get you to a Dottore and - "_

"_Ezio, no." She gasped painfully as he tried to lift her into his arms, he set her down again and she gave him a strained smile, "I am going to die...I can feel it...is Matteo...?"_

"_He is going to be fine, you know it will take more than a broken nose to take him down. Gio is bound to be alright." He looked around but didn't see the child, he had to be close by – probably scared out of his mind. "You have to let me take you to help."_

_Shaking her head, Carlotta held him tightly as she started to feel weak, her vision darkening around the edges. "Gio...He...they...Oh, Ezio, they cut his throat...they killed him..." She stared mournfully at where she had seen him fall, "He was trying to get to me, even after they had cut him...he tried to get to me and he fell into the water!" She felt the man freeze, his eyes following hers and his head was shaking from side to side in disbelief._

"_No..." He murmured to himself, "No." Holding her tightly as her body began to slip from his grasp, Ezio felt cold, he had failed her and he had failed Giovanni. _

"_Ezio, you have to look after Matteo for me, promise me?"_

"_Carlotta, you will live...let me take you from here and...and..." He didn't know, he would find his son's body and they could bury him, he would make sure she would survive this and lock his family in a tower somewhere? What could he do? "I promise I will take care of you all,"_

_She smiled for him again but there was no real happiness there, "I love you, I know you could never feel the same but it was nice...for a little while..." And then Ezio felt her body going limp, he couldn't gather her closer to himself without literally crushing her but he needed to do something – say something, anything! Her eyes were closing but just before they faded of life, he saw them brighten and a last relieved breath left her. In their reflection, Ezio saw the last thing she had seen and when he looked over to the steps leading into the water, he could see Giovanni watching them both._

00

_When Ezio returned to Antonio's there was a skilled doctor waiting, they took Giovanni from him and he could only watch as they took him into a prepared room. Matteo had been patched up already, his clothing changed and any trace of blood washed from him, the older twin was hidden behind Bartolomeo's leg, staring at Ezio as if he were a monster. "W-where is..." He was shaking too hard to speak properly, eyes the largest Ezio had ever seen. But he knew what his son wanted to know._

"_...Mama...she...she is not coming back..." How did he explain? He crouched down and beckoned Matteo to himself but the boy his further behind the mercenary, "Matteo?"_

"_Ezio, maybe you should clean up first." Bartolomeo tried as gently as he could, obviously Ezio hadn't seen himself. The big man could barely see a spot which wasn't covered in blood on the assassin. Hardly a white patch on his robes and the man's boots would have to be thrown away – that amount of blood would never come out of the leather, "What happened?"_

_Looking down at himself, Ezio's eyebrows drew together in confusion, surely it was from holding Carlotta and Giovanni? Then again there had been such a mess from the men's bodies that he could of picked it up there...What had happened...? He had been following Matteo's trail and then...then he was holding Carlotta amongst the mess of human limbs. "Look after him for me." In his confusion he felt the need to check on Giovanni, maybe he had seen what had happened? "I need to check on Gio."_

"_Ezio, are you alright?" Bartolomeo frowned at the man, he was a little out of it to say the least, "Let the Dottore do his job. He is one of our best men." _

"_No, I need to be with him." With that Ezio headed toward the room he'd seen Giovanni carried into. The room was silent when he entered, the doctor sewing the ragged ends of skin back together quietly until he noticed Ezio, "Will he live?"_

_The doctor nodded, his body shielded Ezio from seeing the little body on the table, "The blade did not cut deep enough to sever anything fatal but it was dirty. Your son will likely get an infection, I will do what I can to prevent that...I can sew him shut, no problem, an infection may kill him though and..." He was pouring something over the wound as Ezio stepped closer, "and he is in shock, as you can see."_

_Giovanni was laid out on the table, his breathing shallow and his eyes open, unblinking even as he was treated, something that would have made most grown men scream._

"_What can I do?" Ezio asked as he needed to help in some way, "How do we un-shock him?"_

"_I do not know. He keeps mouthing something...I can not hear it well enough." _

_Ezio stood beside his son and watched as pale lips moved quickly. Perhaps it was a good thing Giovanni seemed frozen, no one had to hold him down whilst he was treated and he hopefully couldn't feel the pain. He watched, unblinking, as he tried to decipher the words – no, word...he was sure it was the same word over and over until, 'Di' became apparent. Perhaps 'Dio', the poor boy had seen so much in the last hour that calling for God made sense. "Ezio...?"_

_It was Antonio calling him this time, once again someone was looking at his clothing in horror, "Ezio, you should wait outside...you are a mess and quite frightening to see right now. No doubt those bastards deserved what you did to them but seeing you like this will only frighten Gio more."_

_What he had done? He hadn't touched those men, they were already dead when he got there...weren't they? Something had torn them up before he'd gotten there and Giovanni must have seen it; it must have scared him into this state. "I need to know what he is saying, I need to help him."_

_Antonio grimaced, "He is saying 'Diavolo' and I am not surprised after all he has been through today."_

00

**1511**

"That is all I can remember. I do not actually remember the thing I saw...the only image I have is a boot coming down onto one of our attacker's heads and...well you can imagine the mess it made." He was being held by the other as he cried, part of him not believing he was sobbing like a child in front of his love interest – Devrim must think him incredibly unattractive right now. Too much baggage to want to actually carry on their flirting.

"You honestly can not think who killed them? Your father was there...maybe he - "

"My Papa is good but even he could not do that to five men...he would not...He is not a monster."

"He would have been angry..." Devrim started slowly, "Perhaps not in his right mind. He ordered the silence on the entire thing..."

Giovanni sat back and wiped his eyes before glaring at the other, "No, he would not." He sounded so certain about it that the Turk dropped his line of thought before he upset him too much. "...I will not get better, will I? If I can not remember what happened to them...I guess I wasted your time..." He felt a little disappointed, though all the tension of the past week had melted from him, he would still have these attacks. "Why could you not just leave my neck alone and fuck me."

"Because I like foreplay too much." He saw a small smile on Giovanni's face and pulled him closer, "This was not a waste of time, you feel better and that is what I wanted more than anything else. You will remember one day but I really would ask your father what he saw."

"I will not get a chance, he will kill Matteo and I the second we get off this boat. So you should really get around to 'de-flowering' me as soon as possible."

"Maybe when there is less snot on your face." Golden eyes looked up at him in surprise and they both cracked up into childish giggles.


	5. Chapter 5

**Open Sea 1511**

They had a good few hours to themselves and neither man wanted to waste it. Devrim had spent too much time convincing Giovanni that he still wanted him, that he was too emotionally involved now to just abandon him because of some baggage. The second the Turk had seen him he'd wanted him, both Auditore's were attractive – being twins – but Giovanni had hidden depths, he looked like a man who didn't want a quick tumble without exchanging names. Devrim had already been a one night stand and he'd hated it, he wanted companionship and to be treated well, not a quick fuck against the wall of Hagia Sofia; he was going to suffer in the next life for that.

As for Giovanni he was amazed that he'd found a gorgeous man who had no problems with wanting another man, that didn't care that he was mentally screwed up and would be nothing but a pain. He had been waiting for three weeks to get a moment alone with Devrim – Matteo having discovered their hiding places and innocently joining in. Giovanni just wanted to strangle his brother or just tell him he wasn't interested in women.

"How long have we got?" Devrim asked as he pushed the Italian onto the bed before climbing over him.

He thought about it a moment, trying to recall who his brother had been charming lately, "He is with that woman travelling alone, older women tend to covet his attention more than girls his own age – he probably will not return until after breakfast."

Good, he could take his time tonight, "Hmm, experienced partners are alluring and I can not blame him." His deft fingers worked on opening Giovanni's shirt, his lips pecking at the exposed skin as it was revealed and he was pleased to see one of his old bite marks still there.

"Oh, so I am not alluring?"

"You have a completely different allure; you have plenty of practice to keep up with me but then you have this sexy little virtue that I will enjoy taking from you."

"So you like a virgin who is not quite a virgin?" Giovanni chuckled as he rose an eyebrow and couldn't help a grin at Devrim's eye roll.

Devrim sat up a little and began on the laces of tight trousers, "How do you move in these?" even pulling them off was a struggle. Giovanni reached down to loosen the ties on the sides of his trousers, a smirk on his lips until he was shoved down playfully, "You Italian's have ridiculous clothing."

"Fashion, Devrim...You are eager." He had been stripped down to nothing whilst the Turk still wore his clothing.

"I can not wait any more, I want you tonight and every night until this ship lands. Who knows what will happen when I return home, Baba may ask me to travel again – your own father may send you packing back to Italy." kissing along Giovanni's collar bone, Devrim let his hand wander down to the hardening length between them and stroked teasingly, "Every time we are together I ruin the mood and this time I am determined to make you scream."

Giovanni panted at the attention to his cock and pulled Devrim's face closer so that he could kiss him. Gaining a whole new appreciation for the man's beard, he moaned into the other's mouth as he enjoyed the rough scratch against his freshly shaven skin and the way he was forced to submit to an eager mouth with an even more eager tongue. He tasted delicious, like the sticky dates he had stolen from the ship's cargo, pushing his tongue against Devrim's, Giovanni moaned again as he tried to gain some sort of control – with little luck when his manhood was squeezed lightly. He looked into mischievous silver eyes and knew he would have to fight harder if he wanted any control – a spike of heat shot straight to his groin at the thought of being dominated by the Turk. "Y-you are so selfish!" He muttered as he pulled at the man's clothing, "You are still dressed..." Giovanni let his hands roam down covered muscles until he reached the hem of the linen under shirt and pulled it up; unfortunately that meant the delicious friction on his cock had to stop so that the material could come off. "This is the first time I have seen you without clothing."

"Do not be put off by my manliness, not everyone can be this ho – mmph!" The younger assassin rolled his eyes and kissed Devrim, the man loved the sound of his own voice, Giovanni was sure of it, though the Italian had to admit he liked to hear the rough accent when it was whispering those filthy things to him. For now he wanted to explore the other whilst he was being compliant. Tearing his mouth away and grinning, Giovanni used his legs to roll them over on the bed, very nearly toppling them off it, "And I thought you were shy?"

"Auditore men are not known for being shy in bed or on the floor or against a wall...in view of the Vatican..." Not one of his brother's best ideas. "Shut up and stop distracting me." A playful pull was administered to Devrim's chest hair causing him to grunt but kept his mouth shut as Giovanni went about tracing muscle and scars with his hands first before ducking down to nip at dark skin. It was another thing that made the man irresistible to the Italian; Devrim's voice, Devrim's skin, Devrim's eyes and Devrim's kind heart. Just Devrim in general.

He chided himself internally, he was behaving like a girl and that was enough to make him blush. Gold eyes travelled along the body beneath him, unsure of what the other would like most and that was when he noticed the pink scattering of many scars just on the left side of his ribcage, "What is this from?" His fingers traced along the cluster of skin and Devrim shivered at the light touch causing Giovanni to pull away like he'd been burned.

The Turk placed his hand where the other's had been, "Uh..." He had to think a moment to remember what the semi-circle of scars were from, "Shrapnel bomb, I think. It does not hurt...a little sensitive but it feels good when you touch me."

Shrapnel bomb, yet another thing the Constantinople brotherhood had that they did not; Devrim had promised to teach him to make these things. "Sensitive?" Giovanni muttered as his lips and tongue worked together to create small bruises across Devrim's chest, teeth scraping teasingly over an erect nipple each time he got close enough but pulling away each time the man arched toward his mouth. He crawled down the Turk's body until he was hovering over the cluster of scars, "How sensitive?"

Devrim bit down a gasp as Giovanni nibbled along the ridged skin of one of the bigger scars, apparently very sensitive and by the twitch of Devrim's erection digging into Giovanni, pleasurable. "I think you are still overdressed."

"I think you should shut the fuck up and undress me then."

Giovanni let go of the skin he was teasing and gave the other a surprised look. Devrim's lips were pressed together as he tried to keep his face blank but his eyes gave away the amusement he was hiding and they both burst out laughing. "Did you learn your Italian from a backstreet whore?"

"A noble woman actually." He said as he watched the laces of his trousers coming undone and sighing as some of the pressure was lifted, "I can say it in my language if you like but it will mean the same thing."

"_Istediğiniz gibi_,"

Devrim smiled at the sarcastic drawl, "And where did you learn your Turkish?"

"Books, the docks at home...one of the whores in the _Rosa_ – I would learn from her instead of doing what my brother expected me to; he practically paid for my language lessons." He didn't notice the shake of Devrim's head as he pulled the man's trousers over his hips, once again Giovanni was being very matter of fact at an inappropriate time – it was adorable but not in the least bit sexy. "Stop smirking at me..."

Was that a pout on the Auditore's lips? He didn't mean to embarrass the other but he had to share his inner musings, "Stop being so methodical when undressing me – I need sultry looks and wandering hands and 'Oh, Devrim! What a big cock you have.' I can not but be amused by you and how cute you are...it is as tantalising as you describing what you had for dinner."

"Ah but dinner is very interesting!" Giovanni exclaimed with a wicked glint in his eyes before leaning down and giving a broad sweep of his tongue from base to tip of Devrim's erection. The man below him bucked his hips and moaned loudly at the unexpected move, "I tried something foreign today." He said as he placed his hands on Devrim's hips to stop any further movement. "I was not sure at first, was I supposed to eat it in little bits?" Wrapping his lips around the tip and giving a playful suck, Giovanni was pleased by the strangled noise he heard and moved his mouth to suck and lick along the hard shaft standing proudly before him. "Or swallow it whole?"

Devrim clenched his teeth together as he felt a hot mouth take him in completely, every inch enveloped in moist heat to the back of Giovanni's throat, then he swallowed and Devrim's hands shot into brown hair and pulled spasmodically at the overload of sensation. He wanted to push into the mouth torturing him but couldn't because of the force holding his hips down, how was Giovanni doing this to him? Even his tongue was sinful as it helped force wanton moans from Devrim. Giovanni sucked at the length until it came from his lips with a pop. "H-how...fuck! Where did you learn that!" Devrim's body tremored slightly as he tried to get his voice to work. That was not something a first timer could usually do, it took practice to swallow an entire cock and the Italian had taken him like it was nothing.

"No gag reflex." He said simply, the Italian assassin was quite proud of himself, Devrim was not the first man he had ever kissed but everything else was a first time experience and to make the other tremble was an achievement. Tucking his now loose hair behind his ear, Giovanni went back to the task at hand, this time using the very tip of his tongue to wriggle along the dribble of pearly liquid beginning to trail down Devrim's cock. He gave a little grimace at the taste and texture, not sure what to make of it as it wasn't entirely unpleasant, "I think like with all new foods I will have to get used to the taste – you will serve this to me again, _si_?"

Tease. "Fine...fine. You describing dinner can be tantalising..." If this was how Giovanni would prove his points than the man was happy to be wrong! "Did your father not teach you to finish what is on your plate?" Giovanni took the hint and once again descended on the Turk, straining to keep hips from bucking once more at the passionate response, "Teeth..." Devrim hissed lightly as his body tensed at the feel of teeth catching the crown of his length. It made the other pull away with a sheepish look and he would have apologised if Devrim hadn't of leaned forward and licked along his now swollen lips, "I will teach you a few tricks next time, _güzel_, I am supposed to be the one making you squirm." Giovanni opened his mouth to the invading tongue, sighing as it rubbed against his own before retreating, "I want to see what a man with no gag reflex can do." He would take advantage of this talent later but for now he wanted the other – too many weeks of wanting him was taking its toll. "I want you." He said lowly, his nose gently following the curve of the other man's ear all the while gently turning them on the bed until Giovanni was on his back.

"R-right...how do we do this?"

Devrim gave him one of his most charming smiles, the one that made his eyes crinkle and Giovanni's insides melt. "You, lay there and moan prettily and let me do all the work...if you want to stop then just say so; we do not have to do this tonight." Though the Turk would die if he was cock-blocked again. Reaching under the pillow, Devrim pulled out a little jar with a corked top and placed it out of the way but within reach, next he knelt between lean thighs and smiled again at the nervous inhalation. What had happened to his confident, sexual deviant of a few minutes ago? "I will take it easy on you," He said as he opened the jar out of sight and dipped his fingers inside, "I will use my very best manners and treat you like the treasure you are."

"I am not a girl, Devrim." Couldn't he just do this already? "Get on with it..."

"I will, when you relax," The older assassin kissed a tense jaw until Giovanni let out a breath, letting his body uncoil with every kiss and rub of inquisitive lips along his neck, a calloused thumb rubbed against a stiff nipple until a whine escaped him at the soft touch.

Giovanni's breath hitched at the cold feel of slick fingers rubbing against his entrance and again Devrim seduced him with a clever mouth. It felt strange at first and Giovanni really wasn't sure if he would like this – what if he didn't? Shit, he needed to calm down before his head exploded and he panicked...what did he know about having sex with another man?

Wait...wait...yes he did!

00

**Rome 1508**

_Giovanni sat on the bench with a perfect hand chalked onto it, Leonardo's art of course, though why he was sat there like a lemon he wasn't sure. Why did the artist want to talk to him? It wasn't a problem, Leonardo practically helped raise him from birth to the age of eight...the man having delayed his travels until Giovanni had recovered somewhat from having his throat cut. Until a few weeks ago the younger Auditore had not seen the man in years and now he was waiting around for some private chat. "Gio..." He jumped as Leonardo sat beside him on the bench._

"_You scared me!" He snapped before calming himself and hugging the man in greeting, "Am I in trouble? I assume I am because you asked me to come alone, not tell anyone I was coming, including my brother, you only take me aside when I am in trouble..."_

"_Oh, Gio!" Leonardo laughed, "You still act like a little boy even now." Leonardo was glad to see him, that ten years after he had left a terrified little boy he could come back to see the brave young man he had become. "You are not in trouble...but...I need to talk to you about something..." He was hesitant, not sure how to bring the subject up without making the young man bolt. But he was never one to mince his words, "Women provide little distraction for you..."_

_The young man physically flinched and stared down at his boots, "I...I do not get it..."_

"_Yes you do, Gio. I saw the way you were looking at that stable hand a few weeks ago." The look on Giovanni's face made Leonardo put his hands up in a placating manner, "I am the only one who knows...I know what to look for, I know how hard it is to look at another man and want to do things you should want with a girl." His blue eyes were serious and honest. Enough so that the worried crease between Giovanni's eyebrows lifted slightly, "There is nothing wrong with you, there are many out there that have the same conflicts in their heads...what is wrong though is you letting Matteo force you into brothels and pretending the woman riding you is that yummy stable hand...he had lovely hands..."_

"_I...I was looking at his arms...and that is a little creepy to have you perving on the same guy as me." Leonardo always had this way of making him let his defences down and be honest, the man would go to the grave with this secret and he was confused as to why he couldn't find girls as exciting as his brother or father. "Why me? I mean, I am going to go through life alone and...celibate." Hearing Leonardo laugh at him made the boy scowl and he would have walked away if not for the deceivingly strong grip on his wrist and an order to sit back down – which he did so like a kicked dog._

_The blonde waited until a glimmer of gold glanced his way before speaking, "Salai has been my lover for a very long time, Gio, I love him and he better love me or I will have to stop his allowance...though that means he pesters me for sex because he is bored...anyway! My point is you will find someone to spend your life with...it will be hard to find a man who accepts he wants to love who he wants despite gender and learning the signs is a bit hit and miss – stable hand does not have a homosexual bone in his boy, so stay away from that disaster – but you will find someone." This was easier than he expected. He thought Giovanni would deny it but the boy had acknowledged it and poor thing thought he was going to be miserable forever. "As for celibacy..."_

"_...How would that even work! All I have down here is my pene, balls and...oh...H-how would...w-would that not...That would be painful, surely...?" The young man paled slightly at the thought and once again his thoughts drifted to a non-existent love life._

"_It...can be uncomfortable at first. As long as all of the proper preparation is done, plenty of oil and if you relax enough it is very pleasurable...I think it feels better than any encounter with a woman. You can talk to me about this, Gio, you can tell your father too...because that bastard made me think he did not know my preference and then years down the line tells me he approves of my lover. So I do not think he will be too upset..."_

00

**Open Sea**

His name was being called and Giovanni blushed brightly all the way to his chest, "W-what?"

Devrim sighed at him with a concerned look, "I asked if you were alright...do you want me to stop?"

"No...why?" This was mortifying, he had been concentrating so hard on all the things Leonardo had told him about sex with a man that he practically forgot where and what he was doing. Well that would make Devrim feel awkward...

"I hope you were somewhere nice, with my ego...stroking it because I feel a little deflated here. And as for 'why'" He wriggled the finger he had worked inside the younger man and felt the tight muscle tense around it, "You did not even notice, did you?" He watched the brunette shake his head slowly and let out a shaky breath, "Are you alright?"

"_Si_, I am sorry I was just trying to relax for you...It feels strange but it does not hurt...I thought it would," He let out a relieved laugh and licked his lips nervously, "I will punch you in the face if I do not like it." The problem was; that was mostly true.

"Good to know." The Turk muttered whilst working a second finger in, stopping at his second knuckle when he saw the pained wince shoot across Giovanni's face, "Bear with it for just a moment, Gio." He pushed a little deeper and with a prayer he wasn't about to get knocked out, curled his fingers toward himself. Giovanni's hands scrabbled at the sheets of the bed, clawing the material as he bucked onto Devrim's fingers, his mouth opening to let out a short gasp of pleasure – that's what he needed. He stroked the small bundle of nerves until Giovanni was mewling and thrusting his hips against the scissoring digits inside him.

Never in a million years had the Italian thought he could enjoy this, that his whole body would light up with blinding, mind numbing pleasure. He could feel his balls tightening as pre-come dribbled in a steady flow from his tip – he was going to come like an inexperienced teenager, "Wait! Wait wait wait!" Grabbing Devrim's wrist he gasped and panted as he tried to calm himself, "Too much..." His prostate was left alone but the careful stretching continued; a third slicked finger wriggled past the tight ring of muscle. It ached again, Giovanni tried to concentrate on the what felt good, his right hand wrapping around his length unconsciously.

"Look at you," Devrim said as he watched the other work himself, "Behaving like a common whore after acting like a scared virgin, bucking against my hand as you swallow my fingers whole." The Turk grinned as he watched a violent shiver travel through Giovanni's body, "I could tell you the recipe for cake and you would still shiver at my voice." He'd had a feeling his voice was the reason for many uncontrolled fits of passion and now he'd confirmed it.

"I-I hope it is – nnn...c-ch-chocolate cake." Even now he had to swap witty remarks, "Please, I am ready, I want you," He needed more than fingers now, he had no idea what he had been so worried about in the first place!

Devrim nodded as he slicked himself up, satisfied the other was relaxed enough and prepared enough for him, "Now who is eager?" Devrim yanked him closer and wrapped lean legs around his hips, "Trust me?" It was a little late to ask but he was nothing if not gentleman.

The Italian rolled his eyes, nodding his head as he reached for the man's jaw and pulling him forward to mould their mouths together, "Ye – aaah...!" Giovanni wrapped his arms around the other's shoulders as he pushed into him; this sensation was different than fingers – it hurt. "F-fuck...Devrim..." How was he supposed to relax when he was being torn in two? It would get better, like before it would feel good again.

"Breathe, Gio..." He was so tight around him that the older assassin knew this had to be hurting, "Gigi...? Look at me."

"I am fine."

Lowering them down so they were no longer sat up, Devrim finger combed the long strands of hair from the younger's face, "No, you are not." And as if to prove it he stroked the flagging erection between them.

"My penis does not get a say in this..." The extra stimulation was appreciated, "I know it will get better, just move and...talk to me..." He pushed his hips up and groaned as he was able to take a little more of Devrim's length.

"Your penis has a big say in it - Damn it, Gio! Stop until you adjust." Impatient bastard was going to hurt himself, "Remember what I said? Let me do all the work and I will have you writhing in no time, only this time I will not let you hold back your orgasm. I am going to fuck you until you can not stand it any more."

It was slow going at first; Giovanni's body accepting the intrusion the more he relaxed, the friction on his cock coupled with Devrim's lusty timbre in his ear making the pain bearable enough for him to take all of the man. For Devrim it was torture, he wanted nothing more than to plough into the vice like grip around him and revel in the heat of velvety walls pulsing around him – he would take Giovanni hard in the near future but this would take a little coaxing. He rocked his hips shallowly at first, silver eyes ever watchful of the pained face before him as he ground against the stretched ring clutching and twitching over his girth; dropping his head to a tanned shoulder with a frustrated moan, Devrim couldn't help but bite down in an effort to keep control. It caused the Italian to arch his back and then shiver as he bit down an almost pleased whine, "I...I need to move. This heat – your fucking tightness is...I can stop if it is too much but please remember how good it felt when you were used to my fingers."

Giovanni snorted whilst letting his hands caress up a tense arm which was supporting the Turk's weight and up along the cluster of scars on his side, "You wanted to wait, I was the one trying to move, _idiota_." His eyes shut as the other pulled out barely an inch and pressed back inside slowly, testing his resolve. Breathing out harshly through his nose, Giovanni let his ankles cross behind his partner's waist and when the next push in came he saw stars, "Do that again!" Moving together this time caused Giovanni to moan in surprise,

"Good, as long as I keep rubbing against that spot we should be able to enjoy this." He was relieved to have found the perfect angle so quickly, worried that he would agitate the Italian the longer he took to find it. Starting slow and shallow the two men fell into a heady push and pull as they got used to each other until after a moment Devrim was able to enter a little deeper. A strangled sound sat deep in his throat when the other clamped down on him, "D-do not do that!" He saw a smirk flicker across the younger's lips and in revenge gave a firm thrust on the next push; Giovanni tossed his head back onto the pillow with a silent cry in reaction.

The Italian was getting used to it, the awkwardness of a few minutes ago dissipating with every rub against his insides. It still hurt a little, being stretched wide over a hard, throbbing cock – even the feel of Devrim inside him was exciting, every twitch and contour stroking deep within him was maddening. How could he not squeeze around him? Especially when the action was chipping away at the careful control Devrim thought he had. Giovanni's hands became tangled in the inky waves of the Turk's hair, the man at some point coming so close that their skin was sliding against the other, his mouth adding a new overwhelming sensation, when had the man become able to hilt himself? "Wait..."

"No."

"Please, wait." He was dizzy suddenly, the lips and teeth on his neck, the hand pumping his aching length, the beautiful friction of Devrim's cock as it delivered long, smooth thrusts; Slow pulls and hard, fast pushes. He was practically shivering with too much sensation, "Wait."

"No." And the older assassin began a faster pace, pleased when his partner's hips rolled with the movement, "I said I was not going to let you hold back." He sat up, his free hand grabbing Giovanni's thigh and lifting it effortlessly as he snapped his hips forward. Silver eyes watched, half lidded, as Giovanni's body arched and he saw long fingers claw into the sheets, again no sound came from his open mouth but the look of rapture was enough to warrant another slap of skin on skin. "I said I would have you writhing," and that was exactly what he had the Italian doing – making such a display that Devrim wanted to see it again, every night for the rest of his life. He could tell the other was close too, every tanned muscle was tense, the turgid length in his hand was weeping continuously, throbbing strongly against his palm, and then there was the near death grip around him. His entrance gripped and swallowed Devrim every time, like it was the most natural thing in the world, "F-fuck!" Shutting his eyes the Turk swallowed thickly as bolts of pleasure shot through his body; the image arousing him more than he thought it should have.

Releasing Giovanni's cock, he gripped the thigh still around him and almost had the Italian doubled in half as he began to pound into him with abandon. He could feel short nails scoring his back and chest until he could feel the sting of sweat in bleeding welts, his hair being gripped and pulled, a mouth on his chin and jaw – it appeared Giovanni was flexible – he had wanted to watch the Italian lose it, he couldn't open his eyes though, he wanted to hold out just a little longer. Wanted to listen to the broken gasps and moans being ripped from his new lover.

Where Devrim wanted to hold on Giovanni wanted to shatter, he grabbed at any part of Devrim's body he could reach to anchor himself and lost any control of his body as he desperately met every thrust with one of his own. Still he was dizzy and every nerve in his body was burning, his muscles had started to cramp but he didn't care, "D-De...Devrim! _Mio Dio_..._cazzo_...nnn...!" Could he not even form a sentence? One, two more harsh thrusts and Giovanni was done.

Honey coloured eyes rolling back into his head, even with his eyes so tightly shut he could only see bright lights dancing on the backs of his eyelids. He felt so tightly wound as he came, that when the aching and spasms of his body finally subsided Giovanni could only go limp, his world going dark, and whimper as someone milked the last of his release from him.

00

When Giovanni came to, he could only sigh in what felt like exhaustion, something rough was caressing his stomach and he cracked an eye open, "Ah, I thought I had killed you!" Devrim smiled at him gently. "You were only lucid for a minute or so, do not look so worried." Did he look worried? He had blacked out hadn't he? "I do not think you blacked out. You sort of just...melted. Moaning quietly and holding onto me like you were afraid I would vanish." The Italian made a mental note not to voice his internal questions.

"Feels like my bones are gone..." words splashed into each other and Giovanni could see Devrim struggling to understand the words and then translate them to himself; once he had he grinned foolishly like he was proud of himself.

"Was it too much at once for you? Next time I will take better care of you instead of letting my lust control me – I just wanted to see you lose it, I would like you to remember this next time you even think about pretending to enjoy a woman's body...but I bet you do not remember your name right now!" Devrim continued to wash the messy release from the other's skin, satisfied enough to throw the rag aside, having already cleaned himself whilst Giovanni was unaware of the world. "Gigi...?" a pair of tired eyes peered at him, evidently displeased with the new pet name, though the younger man noticed the somewhat...regretful look in Devrim's eyes and his heart began battering against his chest – if Devrim told him it was over...

"Hey, hey!" The Turk stroked hair from his lover's face having seen the panic cross his flushed face and understanding, "Relax, let the birdie out and thoughts of us never doing this again too."

"Birdie?" what the fuck was he on about? Was he still unconscious? He watched the other man make a strange action over his heart and his brain gave him a kick, "Oh...Leonardo's trick...you have destroyed any ability I have to think properly...possibly forever."

"Oh good!" came the pleased reply and then, again, there was a serious edge, "I just wanted to ask if you were in pain...there was blood."

Was that all? "I feel fine, better than that even...it was amazing...I thought I would die with how good you felt inside me." He felt Devrim sigh in relief and curl up against his side, "If I could I would have screamed the entire ship down to the ocean floor."

Devrim had wondered about that, he had seen Giovanni cry out but hadn't heard him the entire time. "Damaged vocal chords?" A nod against his shoulder and then a deep contented sigh. "To the bottom of the ocean, eh?" After receiving no answer for a long moment, Devrim propped himself up onto his elbow and laughed at the sleeping assassin beside him, "Light weight."

Before settling back down the Turk did take notice of one other thing apart from how adorable the Auditore looked – his scar was covered with the older man's marks and neither of them had noticed.

(Writers block for four days! I could burn my laptop and this chapter in my anguish!)


	6. Chapter 6

**Open Sea 1511**

Matteo practically waltzed into the cabin a little after breakfast, freshly washed and carrying some of the more expensive food that first class was offered, "_Buon giorno_!" He cheered and put the food on a side table, it was then he noticed Devrim sorting through papers at the desk and his brother still sleeping. "Is he sick?" It was unusual for Giovanni to sleep in and so deeply.

"He had a rough night." The Turk said whilst hiding the papers behind the fake wall he had found with Giovanni, he had them in a sealed tube and checked them a few times a day. They were proof of a conspiracy against the Sultan, it was what he'd spent the last year gathering – They had to reach his father at all costs. "He is sore from the hammock so I gave him the bed," it was a weak excuse so he decided to change the subject quickly, "I see your lady friend let you follow her to breakfast."

"Poor thing wanted me to stay but that blonde caught sight of me and I did not want to cause a scene...especially after the cat fight a couple of nights ago." He needed to stop having multiple partners in small areas, "By the way, who is your lady friend?" He pointed to the deep scratches across Devrim's chest, the man not having bothered to dress fully, "Must have been a very passionate encounter." He glanced at his brother again and smirked, "I bet he stole your bed whilst you were sharing someone else's bed! You dog!" Giving a boisterous laugh, Matteo sat on the bed and shook his twin's shoulder, "Vanni, wake up and eat."

His eyebrows scrunched up and he frowned, "Nnngh!" couldn't he stay in bed? He was sore all over and content to stay where he was but the constant shaking pulled him from his sleep, "Matteo, let me sleep you – Ah! Fuck..." He'd been trying to sit up when a spike of pain shot through him, forcing him back onto his side. Matteo began to fuss without thinking about it, unusual to see his brother not only sleeping late but hiss in pain first thing, "I am alright, my muscles ache...we have not trained properly in weeks and the hammock is uncomfortable – Matteo stop treating me like a kid."

Matteo scowled at his brother, "Well sorry for caring...hey...what the hell happened here?" He turned his brother's head to the side to study his scar, "Have you been scratching again?"

Giovanni touched it gingerly,"Why...what is wrong?"

"It is red...a little bruised too," He examined it a little longer, Devrim joining them as if he was merely curious but he was worried he had done something, "It might be your shirt collar rubbing against it...Give me a moment and I will check the cargo hold for some salves."

Giovanni called him a thief as he watched his twin run off; that left him alone with the Turk and his concerned eyes. "I hurt, all over...mostly when I try to sit up but I also feel like I could take on an army." There was not point in lying about it and he knew Devrim appreciated honesty when it came to people he cared about, "You will have to be gentle with me for a day or so." Leaning forward, Giovanni planted a soft kiss on his mouth.

Kissing him back the man had to smile, "It will be a few days before I will do that again, I knew I was too rough but I know you can handle it – nice deflection with your brother, I was a little worried he would put my love bites and your claw marks together."

"I think those little scratches are well deserved." He traced them gently and then reached for his neck, "I did not even notice...my throat is a little sore but it always is when I get too vocal – does it look bad?"

"I am sorry, it seems I will always go for that side naturally and it does not look bad, Matteo is just being brotherly." Devrim's fingers hovered near the scar until the other flinched, "I thought maybe you trusted me enough by now."

"I do trust you!" The younger man snapped irritably, "Please do not make me feel guilty..."

Devrim got up from the bed and began pulling on his top, "Not my intention..." Matteo chose that moment to re-enter the room, looking at the two with a raised eyebrow, both looked a little forlorn and he wondered what had happened, "Look after him." Was all the Turk said before stalking out of the room.

00

**Istanbul 1511**

Ezio was beginning g to regret letting Yusuf accompany him to Sofia's book shop. He was hurting the Italian's advances on the woman by...well, being Yusuf really. Though Sofia did not seem to mind him flitting about the shelves like it was completely normal, "Baby sitting young men, Ezio?"

"Him? Young?" Ezio looked back at Yusuf with a snort, "Perhaps mentally."

"I think Devrim is very much younger than us both and needs to return the book he borrowed." She had been transcribing one of the books Ezio had found her and finally put her quill down to look at them both, "Oh..." her cheeks coloured a little when she set eyes on the Turk, "I thought you were someone else – you look like..."

Yusuf's lips turned up into a smile, "_Evet_, Devrim does look like me, except I have a nicer beard, his is more like an inch of hair he uses to hide a baby face." He took a chair beside Ezio, "He has been travelling the last year, hence the reason he still owns your property...my son was a little distracted before he left."

"I see," Sofia nodded, she knew about Devrim's mother and youngest brother passing away, he hadn't visited the shop for weeks and then one day turned up out of the blue.

00

**Istanbul 1509**

_A banging on the door had pulled the woman from her private studies, it was getting late and it was dark outside – who would bother her so late? Approaching the locked door cautiously, a poker from the fire in her hand, she called out, "Who is it? I am closed."_

"_Sofia! Please...I...I need a book! Please let me in!" He hadn't stopped banging the door and she opened it for him, recognising his voice and worried; the young man nearly bowled her over as he rushed inside before the door had even opened a crack. She could see he was shaking, hands trembling so badly that the first few books he picked up fell from his hands, medical books, "I need something for a fever, anything!" Devrim was desperate and it was frightening to see the usually happy boy in such a frenzy._

"_Devrim..." Calling to him gently, she took his hands and squeezed them tight, "What is wrong? I can find you what you need but I need to know what has happened." It was then she realised he was crying and by the puffiness, had been for a while now._

"_My baby brother...he is sick...was..." A sob tore itself from him, "He fell asleep and just...stopped! Now...she can not die...Sofia, please, help me!" He knew he was a mess, that he wasn't making much sense but if his mother died; it would kill his father to lose her...it would kill him too. "There has to be something in here – anything at all."_

_She forced him into a hug, knowing that the people who had this fever had all died, that there wasn't a book or doctor in the world that could save the woman, "Devrim...I have known you since you were a little boy and it pains me to tell you this..." He was shaking his head at her, not wanting to hear what he knew and instead wrapped his arms around the book keeper and wept on her shoulder._

00

**Istanbul 1511**

Yusuf and Ezio bid their goodbyes and headed toward a meeting they had arranged a day before with a spy inside the palace. "I had never met Sofia before, even though she was a constant name on my wife's and some of the boy's lips, Yasmina..." How could that name still stab at him so freshly? "She loved to read and Sofia never judged another woman for wanting to learn, when Devrim began learning to read she would take him to that bookshop and then all of our children after. Devrim never stopped going – even took my granddaughter a few times but she is barely old enough to stop drooling let alone read."

Ezio gave Yusuf one of his 'whaaat' looks, "Granddaughter? Is this Devrim's child? How big is your family?"

"My second son is a fast worker, married young and has given me two crying bundles of joy in the last few years – he gets it from me." They climbed a ladder up onto the roof and went about navigating around the guards, "Devrim will not be giving me any grandchildren, I figured that one out a long time ago – girls do not make him deviate from his work."

"And I thought this side of the world was stricter than everyone else." The Italian said as they hooked onto a line and sailed across a few houses, "Then again, I have not hugged a man in months, I am starting to miss Italy."

Yusuf laughed at the image, "I can hug you if you like but it is not a custom here...we are stricter though – assuming you get what I am talking about; the punishment would be a stoning. Though it would be over my dead body first."

"...Your son is lucky to have you."

00

**Istanbul 1507**

_Devrim gave a pained gasp as he was shoved to the ground, stones dug into his knees and palms as he braced himself in the secluded garden, "Iram?" two wet digits were pushed into him and he fell to his forearms from the force, "Wait...ah! L-let me get used to it first!"_

"_I have wanted you for too long, do you not want to be together, Devrim?" His soon to be lover's voice asked harshly, sounding annoyed at his complaints as he quickly prepared him, "I thought you wanted this? We can not be a proper couple if you back out...this is to prove you really want me, evet?"_

_The younger man nodded into the dirt, forehead resting between his arms as he gritted his teeth against the ache he was feeling. Everything was hyper sensitive as he still recovered from his release only a moment ago, wouldn't Iram even wait until he was hard again? Then the fingers were gone and something much larger was pushing into him, "No...I...I am not ready! Iram!" His pleas went ignored as he was thrust into, his scream being muffled by a gloved hand as a fast, brutal pace began. It hurt. He knew it would but not this much and he had thought Iram would be gentle as he had always been. Where was his sweet and kind Iram?_

_00_

_Yusuf moved through the hideout quietly, he was the last one in and he knew that if he was noisy and woke the baby – he would be a dead man. He really should get his wife a proper home so she could cook and clean for him and not an entire assassin army. Looking in on his younger sons, he smirked as two of them had fallen on the floor at some point and cuddled up in the rug; idiots. His daughter would be tucked in with her mother and Devrim would be studying if the candle light under the door meant anything...or not." Putting his ear to the door, Yusuf frowned deeply, was his oldest crying? "Dev?" Opening the door and stepping in he sat beside his son, "Who did this to you?" Devrim sat with his knees drawn up to his chest, said knees bruised and bleeding, his arms also bruised and scraped, lifting his child's head he could see a bruise forming on his cheekbone, "Devrim?"_

"_I-I...I fell..." Wincing as his father removed a stone from one of his bloody knees, the sixteen year old wiped his face with his wrists, palms bloodied too._

_That wasn't a fall, Yusuf had seen his son fall off things and knew he would never use his hands to break one. There were red marks along his neck that indicated Devrim hadn't been alone. "Was it Iram?" He watched a swollen bottom lip get sucked in between teeth, that was a yes then, "I knew I should have warned him off!"_

"_...Baba?" Devrim's silver eyes widened, wondering if he had misheard, "What...?"_

"_I am not blind, Dev! I know you prefer...not girls. You are discreet though and you know what would happen if anyone else found out. I can not say I am pleased about it but you are my son and I love you." His son lowered his eyes, a blush reddening his face as he tried to hide; was he ashamed? "Iram...he is selfish and he leads people on – he takes what he wants." _

_That made it all sound so dirty, "He did not take what I did not offer him...I am sorry, I wanted to be normal – I really tried to be! I did not want to embarrass our family because there is something wrong with me!" Feeling himself pulled into a one armed hug, Devrim first whined as his bruises were agitated and then buried his head into his father's robes, "I am sorry, if...if you want me to leave - "_

"_There is nothing wrong with you!" Yusuf snapped angrily, grabbing the boy's chin and forcing him to look at him, "We are fighting so that people can live freely, so that race and religion does not dictate them...that includes letting people love who they want regardless of...how weird it seems. I figured out what you liked long before even you knew...I knew you were hiding in corners with that bastard and I did not care because you seemed happy." Then he had heard the rumours about Iram and his habit of sleeping with someone and leaving them out to dry, he had wanted to tell the man to keep away from his son only to be afraid Devrim would think it was an ashamed father acting. "If he forced you to do something..."_

"_He was just rough...guess he was lost in the moment...first times are hard, right?"_

"_Not when the person three years older than you just wants an easy lay."_

"_He...he..." He wanted to say 'He loves me!' to deny what he knew his father was implying...that Iram just wanted to fuck him and nothing more. "I am so stupid...I thought he cared..." Devrim had not wanted to think about how the man had come, dressed and left him in the garden alone, it was glaringly obvious he had been used and he had let it happen._

_Yusuf sighed deeply as he saw realisation hit his son, "Tomorrow I am going to beat him to within an inch of his life and you are going to make this up to me." Devrim was nodding his head vigorously, the need to please his father clear as day and Yusuf had to cuddle the boy once more, "Do not go with any guy just because he likes men too – I thought you were smarter than that."_

00

**Istanbul 1511**

"It has been an experience, I do not always get things right and sometimes I think Devrim misunderstands my worry for him as disappointment." They were nearing the meeting point, Yusuf having been quiet for a long while, "He is my most skilled assassin, he studies hard, he takes care of his family and friends...he is everything I asked for when I wished for a son. And if he likes boys...then I hope he is happy."

Ezio smiled to himself as he listened, Yusuf was a good man and he wished he had known him sooner – like when he could get the bastard back for all the old man comments. "At least I only have two womanisers to watch – I would have heart attack watching your hundred kids."

00

**Open Sea 1511**

The older Auditore slipped into one of the lifeboats that Giovanni and Devrim liked to hang out in and sat opposite the Turk lazily, "You like honesty. I mean we all spend nights in the cabin together drinking, talking...I mean I do glare at you a lot but that is because I get jealous."

"Jealous?" Devrim looked up from the book he had been reading, originally only half listening but now he was attentive, "That I am spending time with your twin? I have younger twin brothers; I know how the whole 'this is my twin and we do everything together and if you get in the way I will put honey in your hair' works. Been there, done that, had the haircuts." In truth, Devrim had been waiting for this confrontation.

Matteo shrugged, "Twins do give each other space as they get older but I am not jealous of that." He moved as gracefully as a big cat, his fingers plucking the book from Devrim's hands and putting it aside as he practically crawled into the Turk's lap, "You always look at him, I know he gave you those scratches and I know you left those bites and bruises all over his body." His gold eyes watched as the other's adam's apple bobbed at his proximity, enjoying the widened eyes as his lips brushed against a dark cheek and then began whispering into his ear, "Did you fuck my little brother? Was he good? Did he mewl and beg under you?" Pulling away, Matteo's mouth hovered over the others, "Why do you not try me out instead? I can beg so prettily for you and I do not have all that emotional baggage. What say you, Devrim?"

( :] )


	7. Chapter 7

**Open Sea 2 months out 1511**

Giovanni stared at his lover's back for a long moment as he checked the papers as usual and a disturbing thought crossed his mind; were they lover's? It had been almost a week since they'd had sex and Devrim seemed to have lost interest in him...was that all the assassin had wanted?

No, Devrim had wanted to help him, had taken so much time in pursuing him that in a mere month Giovanni was in such adoration of the man that it hurt! And in the last three weeks he had shared more of himself than he ever had with anyone else. "I heard one of the sailors say we would arrive in about a week. Hard to believe it has been two months..." He saw Devrim glance at him for a brief moment and a tight smile was given. Why did those eyes look so guilty? "Devrim, have I done something to upset you?"

"_Hayir_!" In a blink the Turk was in front of him, hands holding his face gently and that – it was a fake one – smile he had been using was in place. "I...I feel sick. I just do not want to make you ill if I have something," A kiss was placed on Giovanni's head and Devrim retreated back a couple of steps.

Sick? Really? He had hardly seen hide nor hair of the man in the last week and now that they were standing so close, he could see it. Devrim seemed pale, he didn't move with his usual grace, he had been sluggish and Giovanni couldn't recall seeing him eat, "What is wrong with you? It can not be the sea because we have been on this boat too long for that." Reaching for him the Italian began to worry, how had he not noticed sooner?

"I just need to rest." He avoided the man's touch, pretending not to have noticed and fell onto the bed. "Forgive me?"

"For being ill? Of course." He pretended not to notice the brush off but followed the other, sitting down beside him and undoing the robe clasps – another oddity, Devrim was fully dressed in full assassin regalia, minus weapons and belt, "You should not sleep in this."

Again Devrim was forced to brush off the unwanted touch, "I am cold...can you..." He thought hard for a moment, "Can you get me something to eat?"

"Sure, I will be right back." Again he was pretending nothing was wrong even though he had seen a bruise on the Turk's neck, in a place he would not have left one. He walked out of the cabin quickly, resting against the door after closing it and trying to calm the panic clawing in his gut, "Do not be stupid...He is not the type to...sleep with someone else." He said it to himself over and over until he had convinced himself it was nothing. A tap on his shoulder nearly made him jump, instead his instincts took over and he turned to defend himself. "Matteo, you scared me!"

The brother grinned merrily at the confession. "Pay attention then. Why are you talking to the door?"

"Pep talk to myself." Giovanni sighed and patted his brother's shoulder, "Do me a favour and keep an eye on Devrim. He is not feeling himself lately."

Matteo smirked, "He has others to feel himself for him." and with that Matteo stepped around his twin and entered their cabin. Giovanni stared at the closed door blankly, not sure what his brother had meant and feeling more dread than before.

00

Studying each other for what felt like hours, the two looked away, Devrim to the side and Matteo at the floor until he spoke, "Are you actually ill or are you just feeling guilty about what you did? Loss of appetite, lack of sleep and feeling sorry for yourself are all classic signs of regret and guilt – I hope you feel like you are dying. I hope what you said to me will eat you up inside for the rest of your life."

"You should not have opened yourself up for me...you feel lousy too I bet." Devrim deserved the unkind words, he had betrayed Giovanni's trust and Matteo had every right to be angry. "It was my decision to take it so far and it is not like you had nothing to do with the whole sordid affair!"

"You were not the one leaving with a limp." He stepped closer to the bed, ready to lay into the man until he saw him tense all over and grit his teeth. Matteo lost track of the argument at the look of distress and became worried, "You...really are sick. I thought it was a ploy to avoid my brother – Shit, this is not going to pass onto me is it?"

"It would be hilarious if you got sick too, would serve you right." The older assassin's breath was shallow and the insult didn't seem to have the usual bite to it. Not enough for the Italian to retaliate other than to stand above the man and contemplate him carefully, until Matteo leant over and let his left hand clutch around the rough fabric of Devrim's mocha coloured robe, "Do not do this, Matteo..." He went ignored and shut his eyes as he felt the fabric being pushed up to reveal his bare skin.

The door began opening and Matteo shoved the robe back down, jumping back a fair distance and masking his face with indifference in time for Giovanni to walk in. It wouldn't take long for him to notice the tension in the room and after seeing a sweet glance pass between the two, Matteo felt suddenly sick himself and left without so much as a word – his brother was so in love with Devrim that he couldn't stand to see them.

Devrim saw the look in Matteo's eyes and felt another stab of guilt. Or it may have been Giovanni encouraging him to sit up that caused the pangs of pain to shoot through him, whichever it was he suddenly really didn't want to eat.

Giovanni wasn't going to take no for an answer, "Devrim, you need to eat...please, for me? I do not want you getting too weak to fight this." He twisted a few dark strands of hair in his fingers and tucked them behind Devrim's ear, "I wish you had said something sooner."

Unable to answer him, Devrim forced a smile and took a bite out of the bread he'd been offered. There were other things but he didn't think he could stomach anything else at that moment in time, hopefully this would appease Giovanni enough to lose the sad eyed looks. Every bite was making him nauseous though and every caress from gentle fingers making him dizzy. What he would give to just blurt out what he had done! He didn't want to ruin the twin's bond with each other or lose Giovanni's trust – why couldn't he just have kept his mouth shut and left Matteo in that boat like a fool?

Laying on his side, back to the Italian, Devrim curled up a little as the queasiness washed over him in waves. "Can you leave me alone, please..."

"...Sure..." Giovanni kissed Devrim's cheek before leaving reluctantly, a sinking feeling settling within him.

00

Being sent away had been painful but seeing Devrim walking through the galley halls only an hour later and then seeing Matteo beckon the man into a different cabin was even more so. What was happening? When had they begun spending time together and why wasn't he invited? He wasn't mad, he had seen the men in secluded corners, whispering to each other and often grasping at clothing, their faces close. The day after he and Devrim slept together was when it started to happen – it was like the Turk had moved on. That was impossible he thought, Matteo liked women, he had never hinted at finding men attractive or even jokingly flirted with one. He was straighter than...than anything straight Giovanni could think of!

With his ear pressed to the cabin door like a suspicious wife, Giovanni listened for anything to even hint at what the two were doing. The sea and creaking of old wood made it hard to hear but...was that...was that Devrim's groan? He had to be imagining it, his mind wild with paranoia and he forced himself away from the door; bumping a young lady as he did so, "_Mi dispace_! I was not paying attention."

"Matteo, you never came to my room the other night," The blonde woman pouted as she walked her finger's up Giovanni's chest, "Were you with your new lover? I know you said you wanted to mess around but you move on so fast." The assassin sighed to himself, how often was he cornered by his brother's lovers thinking he was his twin? "Who has had you distracted this week, Matteo?"

"Actually," He edged away from the pretty girl and then noticed something about her. His eyes drawn to the bruise on her neck, the same place as Devrim's – so it was Matteo that left love bites on the right side of the neck, close to the shoulder. "My name is Giovanni and Matteo is my twin brother...in fact." He glared at the door, "He is in here." and he knocked on the door harder than intended before storming off to the deck to cool off.

Still trying to convince himself that he was over thinking things – Matteo was straight and Devrim was not the type of man to cheat! Devrim would not hurt him like this, he would not lead him on and use him like a toy, he had been gentle and patient and...and there was a perfectly reasonable answer as to why the two were sneaking around behind his back and why the Turk looked so damn guilty all the time.

00

Another tense day passed between the three where Devrim stayed in bed after Giovanni blackmailed him into eating before skulking away by himself, leaving Matteo lounging in his hammock. Upon his return Giovanni was shocked to see Devrim doubled up in pain on the floor, Matteo at his side holding his hair back and rubbing his back in circles firmly, as the Turk heaved into a pail. Matteo looked up and gave him a helpless shrug of the shoulders, "I do not think he should be eating solids..."

Giovanni took his brother's place in supporting Devrim, "We need a doctor; his skin is burning."

"And he can not even support himself – I know, I have eyes and I have been trying to help him whilst he moaned and rolled around in agony for the last hour! Where were you? I could hardly leave him alone like this!" There was a surgeon on-board the ship luckily but there was no way the older twin would leave the man alone in such a state, "I will be right back - "

"No!" The twins paused at Devrim's order, "I think it is as you said...I should not eat anything solid for a few days...I just need water and rest." He leaned against Giovanni heavily, "Surgeon will say the same thing." he tried to get up but nothing was responding or everything weighed too much for him to lift. Two sets of arms helped him stand on unsteady feet and practically carried him to the bed, hands then worked on divesting him of his robes and making him comfortable. Giovanni stared at the bruise on his neck, brighter because of the sickly pallor Devrim's sweat soaked skin had taken. Worst of all he could feel golden eyes watching him, he just knew they were waiting for a reaction and it made his skin crawl.

For the Turk it was a little disorientating to see two exactly identical faces looking down at him with the exact same concerned expressions, "Gigi..." His hand rested against the Italian's chest and held onto the shirt with what little strength he had held on, "The papers...they have to get to my..." Trailing off Devrim saw the little crinkle between the man's eyes and let his silver eyes slide to the other twin – who was he holding onto?

Giovanni glared darkly at Matteo, conveying his displeasure as plainly as if he had shouted before hissing out, "What have you done?" Giovanni's hand grabbed the darker one in his shirt, thumb caressing it gently even as his temper flared; he would never know how Devrim always picked him out of the two, he said they looked different but even in this fevered state he got it right. "Are you really this selfish? Do you realise what will happen if he dies? Look what you did to him and do not dare deny it, brother, that is your signet ring practically embossed on his skin!"

Whilst they had been undressing him, Giovanni had been shocked to see the massive expanse of a heavy, black bruise swallowing the usually tanned stomach. And then the perfect impression of their family's crest in the centre of it all; Matteo always wore his ring.

"I did not mean to hit him that hard – I took him to the surgeon yesterday and he gave Devrim something to stop the bleeding inside, then that dumb blonde knocked on the door and started giving me lip until the surgeon kicked us all out...I thought that would be the end of it."

The younger Auditore was having trouble with what he was hearing, getting angrier with every word out of Matteo's mouth, "You hit him hard enough to cause internal bleeding? All this time you knew and let him suffer with it?"

"I did not know until yesterday because he did not want to cause a fight between us!" He shouted back.

"So the fact that you two were - " And that was all Matteo heard because Giovanni had reached the loudest he could go, mouth moving but nothing coming out as old damage to his vocal chords strained to work. It took a moment for the younger to notice he wasn't actually making any noise, baring his teeth Giovanni stared at the wounded Turk until he could feel the constriction in his throat loosen, "Tell me what happened."

00

**Open Sea one week ago 1511**

_What was going on? Matteo knew about him and Giovanni? Giovanni had sworn blind that no one knew about his sexual preference other than a close family friend, Matteo had always seemed so oblivious to them but it made sense... All the times Matteo had found their hiding spots and joined them, how he always seemed to walk in and interrupt them – he had never shown any interest before! And here he was, purring into Devrim's ear and sat in his lap offering his body like a seasoned whore. "I say..." His hands wrapped around Matteo's upper arms and he leaned his face a little closer, "Get the fuck away from me before I break your nose." And pushed him away, "If I wanted you I would have pursued you – what do you think you are doing? What about your brother!" Devrim got out of the boat in a hurry, Matteo following him without hesitation and cutting him up before he could storm off._

"_We look exactly the same! What is the problem? Or do you like that my brother is inexperienced and troubled?" A fist came flying toward his jaw and he grabbed it easily, "I can pretend to be just like him for you." The Turk snarled at him, a flurry of foreign words spilling forth as they stepped away from each other, "I have no idea what you just said but I hope it was not about my family."_

_Devrim glared at him, it was better than beating him up and having to explain why there was a body in the water, "You are not the same, I can tell you apart at a glance as if you were not identical. And what kind of human being are you to say such things? Giovanni does have baggage but he does not carry it around like plague! He told me what happened...and I know exactly what the Diavolo he saw was." Watching the smug look slip from the man's face made the Turk carried on with more confidence, "And when we get to my home I will explain everything to him and he will begin to heal – You can not stand that you could not help him!"_

"_I am his brother...his twin..."_

"_He did not even tell you about him liking men! It is no wonder he does not trust you when you would go behind his back like this!" _

_Matteo couldn't say a thing, shocked at the outburst and how hard it hit him. He could see how triumphant the other man was at having defended Giovanni so ferociously, how he felt justified in hurting one brother for the other. "...Shut up." And he looked so dejected as he said it, all animosity gone, "Vanni may not have told me but I knew...I have known for so long and I let him think he had me fooled." He gave a dry chuckle, "Why would he keep secrets from me?"_

_Devrim couldn't believe his ears, "Why? Because you just tried to seduce his boyfriend! Why would he ever trust himself to a snake that ran away from him when he needed you! Do you not feel guilty for leaving him to die?"_

"_I...I was seven! I had to leave to get help!" Matteo couldn't stop himself from lashing out this time and connected a glancing blow to Devrim's jaw. Before anyone who had been watching the two figures could do a thing, they were throwing punches and rolling on the deck as they fought. "He would not say that to you!" Matteo's thumb dug into Devrim's neck, close to his shoulder – a pressure point that was sensitive when sucked on and painful when pressed hard enough to bruise. It gave him enough leverage to have the upper hand._

_Devrim elbowed him in the ribs and rolled away, hunched low in preparation for the retaliation sure to come, "No, he did not say that but it hurt to hear – imagine what he would feel if he knew about this. We will get thrown off if we continue to fight...so let us call this a draw and never speak of it again."_

_Matteo hesitated, they were evenly matched and already sailors were beginning to gather at their disturbance. The Italian had only wanted to prove something to himself, wanted to know that he could put his mind at ease and things had escalated quickly out of control. "Agreed." They straightened themselves out of their fighting positions and merely tried to stare the other down, Devrim being the one to extend his hand in a peaceful gesture. Grudgingly, Matteo took it, yanking the other toward him and burying his fist into his stomach, "Never twist my brother's words again – not to hurt his family. Letting the Turk sink to his knees with a pained groan, Matteo stalked off._

00

**Open Sea 1511**

Giovanni's mouth hung open stupidly. His brother, his twin brother who was the straightest man he knew, who he grown up with and shared everything with, even putting up with getting in trouble because of him, had tried to seduce Devrim...because he wanted him for himself. Now Matteo took his things sometimes but this was ridiculous! "...Why?"

"Why what? Why did I never let you know I knew you hated sleeping with women, that I have seen you obsess of other men before? I wanted you to come to me and tell me...I would not have judged or been disgusted, I am your brother...you could trust me." Matteo had assumed the shock was that he had known since they were sixteen a secret Giovanni thought was so well under wraps but as the man lashed at him he realised he had assumed wrong.

If not for Devrim latching onto Giovanni's shirt with the hand not holding the Italian's, Matteo was certain he would be nursing a broken jaw, "Why the fuck were you trying to take him away from me? Are you loathe to see me happy?" Giovanni was unconsciously holding onto Devrim, knowing he should be taking care of the man and not having a fight with his so called brother, "You think you are better than me?"

Matteo threw his arms up in exasperation, "No! I had to make sure he wanted you for more than your looks! I was making sure he really cared about you and was not going to break your heart – I did not want him to use you and yes; it got out of control but I had to know he wanted you, all of you!"

"See, he was being sweet..." Devrim gave out a bitter laugh that turned into a choked sound as he coughed, every cough causing him pain as it agitated his stomach muscles and whatever was going on inside him. A sharp slap on his back helped clear the blockage making him cough, blood spattered across the white of Giovanni's shirt.

"Get the surgeon." was all the younger Auditore got out before the body he was holding began to convulse, "Get the damn surgeon and find out what he gave him! Go!"

(...so...feedback...anyone~?)


	8. Chapter 8

**Istanbul 1511**

_Padre,_

_By now you know we followed you and I know you will be angry, can you blame us for worrying about our dear, ageing papa? Jokes aside, something has happened to our cabin mate and the surgeon is just able to keep him alive. Assuming we are as close to you as we think, we hope to receive your answer by tonight at latest – our vessel has given permission to use one of their personal pigeons near the docks, you will know which. _

_There was an incident in which our cabin mate sustained a hit to his stomach that over the week became agitated until bleeding occurred. This weakened him but my brother believes it is something the surgeon has given him that is making him convulse and is refusing to let treatment continue until he knows of any prior allergies...and my brother, who has become so close to our cabin mate, he is becoming agitated._

_Please respond with speed._

_Your oldest son._

Ezio watched as Yusuf read the letter once and then twice. Then he was half way up the stairs in the Gelata hideout shouting, Ezio assumed he was calling someone but the language was too rapid to follow, two assassins tumbled out of a door and stood before their mentor, "What was that ingredient Dev is allergic to?"

"The one that made him collapse?" one of the masked men asked.

"Made him convulse?" Yusuf nodded to the other and the two looked at one another before turning to Yusuf, "Jimsonweed, father. You can use it for flavouring but after his reaction the first time mother did not use it again."

The other then joined, "It is the same family as Datura that we use in poison bombs but it is used in medicines too...why what is wrong?" They spoke a while longer, at one point a panic breaking between the assassins in which Yusuf had to calm them quickly.

Ezio had already grabbed quill and parchment, penning a quick message:

_Son,_

_I do not know exactly what has happened but my gut tells me this incident involved you, your brother or even both of you. I need not tell you the damage your cabin mate's death would cause to our entire organisation – our relationship within it. We will discuss things when you arrive and depending on your answers depends how many inches of your life I beat you both to._

Yusuf stood next to him, "Jimsonweed, they would have put it in a tincture to stop internal bleeding, Devrim reacts violently to it...Ezio, if he is already weak..." Ezio was writing the details of the jimsonweed down quickly and finished the note, handing it off quickly to Yusuf's son.

"Giovanni, he is my youngest son, he spent a lot of time with friends of mine who had medical knowledge. He is not a _dottore_ by any standards, I believe he knows enough to keep your boy alive and Matteo says he is getting agitated – probably telling the surgeon that if anything happens he will kill him. Do not worry my friend, you said Devrim has good luck."

That was true, Devrim was strong too and then he remembered the first letter from his son, telling him about his new friends, "Giovanni? Can that be shortened?"

"_Si_, Gio but only a very select few get to call him that. Vanni is the usual, why?"

"Not Gigi?"

Ezio shook his head in amusement, anyone who wanted to live wouldn't call Giovanni something so ridiculous. "The pronunciation is wrong, if you read his name you might say 'Gee o vanni' instead of 'Jo vanni'" Thinking about it like that made him pause, "I suppose Gigi could be born that way...like you can never say my name correctly. Once again; why?"

"No reason," slinging his arm around Yusuf's shoulder, the Italian gave him a squeeze, "Thank you for your concern, my friend, I know Dev will be back on his feet soon – he has much to do yet." They bid each other farewell, Ezio having a mission to carry out and Yusuf needing a moment to himself after this news. Opening a draw and pulling out a letter he glanced over it;

_To my very furry Baba,_

_Unless you have gone bald from stress, have you had time to polish your blade yet or are you still running the world? I am coming home at last, my business completed and I will be sure to get you a very pleasing gift. If the sea is kind to me I will be there in two months, if not, well do not plan a party._

_Picked up a couple of Italians, part of our European business, Twin sons of the owner believe it or not. They were lost and a little down on their luck so I will be bringing them home. _

_I know you will have mixed feelings about this next piece of news. I have found myself with a special interest in one of the brothers, perhaps it is the constant feel of his eyes on me...and certain incidents involving wooden beams, poor Gigi will not stand a chance._

_All my love, your very attractive son._

It seemed Devrim's 'special interest' had been won over. Hopefully he could stop further harm from coming to the Mentor's oldest child. He hoped that he could see if an Auditore boy would be any good for his child, hoped he could tease them about it.

00

**Open Sea 1511**

"Jimsonweed." Matteo said to his brother once he'd read the letter, "There is a recipe for a tincture to flush it from his body and the surgeon is working on it now, apparently the medicine he has been giving Devrim had small amounts in and that is why it took so long to build up to a dangerous level. Devrim's father made sure one of the ingredients came with the pigeon, seems this has happened before – he will be alright, _fratello_." It appeared he had arrived in time for another set of convulsions to rock through their friend, he helped hold him down until they calmed and sighed loudly.

Giovanni was acting as if Matteo were not there, his sole interest being Devrim, stroking back the man's hair in a soothing gesture, talking to him quietly and using a damp cloth to dab at heated skin. And Devrim just lay there, limp and pale and lifeless. "Take a break, Vanni, I will tend to him."

It was the first time the younger Auditore looked at his brother in hours and his eyes burned with disdain, "You will not touch him." His voice was raspy but the threat still clear, "I swear to you, on Mama's grave, Matteo. If he dies – I will kill you." He was livid, "I promise you."

"You are being a little dramatic...it was an accident."

"I do not care!" Giovanni lunged at the other, no one to stop him this time as he crashed his brother into the wall, a blade sitting on his neck, "Accident or no, you have done this to him and I will never forgive you! I am warning you, that if he does not survive I will give us matching scars," Matteo winced as a keen blade nicked his neck, "Only you will not be as lucky as I was..._Capito_?"

"..._Si, fratello mio_." Giovanni let him go and returned to Devrim's side. All Matteo could do was watch and wonder how everything had gotten so out of hand. When he had attempted to seduce the Turk it was supposed to be a test, if all the man wanted was the face and the body then Matteo would have warned him off. Devrim had said no, had defended Giovanni and had been outraged at the offer of a swap...it should have stopped there. Matteo should have been satisfied and happy that someone adored his brother so truly but...he couldn't just keep his mouth shut. And he couldn't just have walked away without that sucker punch.

How was he to know Devrim would suffer in silence though? If the man had just said something sooner instead of letting himself get so ill.

The surgeon arrived with the tincture but refused to enter the room after Giovanni had threatened him earlier, Matteo took it and handed it Giovanni, who carefully administered it to his lover. There was nothing more to do, "I need water to wash him, it will cool him down too hopefully." Matteo slinked out of the room to run the errand. Finally alone, Giovanni slumped next to the bed and pulled his hair back into a fresh pony tail, he didn't really know what he was doing, assisting the assassin doctors was hardly enough to let him heal this but he was right about the medicine. "I did not know something so simple about you, please wake up...you have to because I want to know everything about you. What you are allergic to, what you like to eat, your favourite colour, your brothers name's, what your mother and father are like...even past lovers."

Obviously there was no response yet but he knew there would be, "You tried so hard so that I would not fight with Matteo and all I want to do is tear him to pieces and leave him like..."

Matteo returned with the water, placing it down near his temperamental twin, who looked a little shocked. Usually he would ask what was wrong but it seemed hard to do, it was the look he got when he realised something important or was figuring something out in his head...or the look he got when he was recovering from one of his attacks. And then, as if nothing had happened Giovanni started up again and stood up straight. Rolling his sleeves up before dipping a clean rag into the warm water and going about cleaning stale sweat from the Turk. "I know you hate me right now, but I want you to know that I am sorry and that I am an idiot, I want you to know that I love you. The note said he may have a seizure as the tincture gets to work...I will be sat outside that door and if you need me all you have to do is call me...alright?" No answer came so he left quietly.

Listening to Devrim's ragged breathing, Giovanni decided to speak so he wouldn't have to listen, "You are on his side, I can tell, you have this disapproving little frown on your face and I do not like it. He was trying to protect me, it was a sweet thing to do but he went about it the wrong way and he hurt you...if you die I will have to kill him – I swore to. I am so angry at him right now but you do not want to make me follow through..." He stroked the cloth over a strong bicep all the way to the man's fingers, "I will wait until he begs on his knees for forgiveness and then I will make him buy me new clothes, anything I want really...maybe make him promise not to go whoring for a year."

He quieted as he washed over the bruised stomach carefully, guilt gnawed at him as he remembered how he had forced Devrim to eat and what damage that may have caused. "You stupid bastard...this could all have been avoided! ...you could have – Devrim?"

Devrim's eyelids were flickering rapidly, his breathing escalating and recognising what was about to happen Giovanni shouted for Matteo without a second thought.

00

**Istanbul 1511**

_Papa,_

_Our cabin mate has asked me to send this message to alleviate any fears his father may have. I know you taught us never to send too many correspondences in a short amount of time but the difficulty in which he had to convey the request has forced my hand._

_The tincture you sent us has flushed the poison out but the resulting seizure has left him out of sorts...he is confused, his limbs will not obey him and he finds it frustrating, it gets better as hours pass. I am worried about the trouble he is having giving voice to his thoughts, I hope this is temporary and would like Mentor Tazim's input on the matter._

_Papa, before you kill us for disobeying you, I need to talk to you about Mama...about what happened and what I saw – I am begging you not to turn me away._

_Your youngest son, Gigi._

_p.s. If it would please you, I can kill my brother to save you the trouble._

Yusuf sighed in relief, "That is good to hear, everything he has described is the same as the two times before, give him a day and he will be chatting away like birds in a tree, his movements will take a week or so to return to him fully. Is that all the note said? It looks longer than two paragraphs."

"The third is for me, he wants to talk about...something." They were sat in the library, waiting for a scouting party to return with information on the attempted assassination of Sulliman. "He signed it Gigi...I am going to assume that your son had given this pet name to mine. It is strange that he would use it after a short time of knowing someone, Devrim must be very charismatic to make an impression on Giovanni, he is usually so shy."

"Charismatic or sleeping with him." He cut himself short at the flippant comment, being so comfortable with Ezio and tired from all the drama he had said something he probably shouldn't have, "That was not appropriate."

Ezio waved it off, "I am not offended, Yusuf, if either of my boys took an interest than I am sure they could do no finer than your son. They spend more time in brothels than they do at home though, so it must be your family's winning personality."

Grinning at the compliment, Yusuf went about doing something he hadn't time to do in a long time – polish his blades. As he did so his thoughts went to his son, he had always tried to keep jimsonweed and datura away from Devrim ever since he had first reacted to it when he was four. At age fifteen Yusuf had been teaching him to craft a poison bomb when he went into violent convulsions, the twins who had only been twelve had been nearby and panicked as their brother went down. Yusuf hadn't understood it at the time as he had made sure Devrim had not breathed any in and then someone explained that jimsonweed and datura were related – not to mention that jimsonweed was used in most medicines. He wanted to be on that ship to make sure Devrim was really doing better, he wanted to make sure Giovanni was being honest. "Your boys have very different ways of writing to you, and they call you different things, that must make telling them apart easier?"

"Matteo stopped calling me Papa years ago, calls me Padre because I usually have to scold him and he ends up having to pretend to be sorry whilst I pretend to be angry, he is brash, speaks his mind and sometimes acts before he thinks. Giovanni never grew out of calling me Papa but he and I are...distant. He tends to be quieter, he observes and acts accordingly, sometimes pulling Matteo out of trouble. Visually you need to look at their hair and their necks."

"Usually I find, 'whichever child you are, get over here' works well for Sedat and Seref. But so I know, what do I need to look out for when we receive our brothers?"

Brother? He never really thought of them like that, he was their father and yes, they were assassins but they were his children first. "Giovanni wears a scarf around his neck and plaits his hair. Matteo never does up the top four buttons of his shirts – has actually removed them sometimes – ties his hair back simply. It will not matter because I will kill them."

00

**Open Sea 1511 Five days from Constantinople**

Swallowing was hard for the Turk, Giovanni feeding him wasn't easy either but he was still out of it and dropped everything he tried to hold onto. "My hands are usually the first thing to gain control, sorry to make you do this." A spoon went into his mouth to stop him from talking.

"Shut up and eat your...I do not know what this is but it is the only thing you can take right now." He was just relieved that Devrim's mind remained undamaged and that he could speak easily now, when all he could do was make half sentences and try to communicate without success., "I thought I was going to lose you at one point..."

"I could hear you," he said as he rested back against the pillows, "Do you really think you could get Matteo to stop having sex for a year? Seems impossible to me."

"I do not want to talk about him."

Devrim frowned at the other, every time he bought Matteo up, Giovanni shot him down or changed the subject or forced him to eat the unappetising soup. "I have four brothers and a sister. I am the oldest, turning twenty back in January, my brother Karamat, which means 'miracle' was born two years after me and nearly did not survive. A year later my twin brothers were born, Sedat, which is 'just' in your language, and Seref, 'honour'. Then there was a long break, five years after the twins came my baby sister, Ece...'queen' and believe me when I say she is treated like one...damn brat."

Giovanni listened with a pleased smile on his lips, Devrim had heard him when he had said he wanted to know more about the Turk, "That is a lot of siblings, I assume the last brother came after your sister?"

"Sef...it means 'yesterday'. My parents had some special meaning for it but I never asked. He was four when he died, too little to fight a fever...he just fell asleep and that was it." Feeling his hand being held, Devrim just shrugged a little, "My mother died of the same thing, it happened last year a few months before I left for Cyprus. I could not bare to see my father so destroyed and volunteered for the mission...kind of wish I had stayed. I wasted a whole year and missed him terribly – maybe my siblings a little but mostly him. My parents got married when they were eighteen, they had known each other since they were children and apparently she was supposed to marry a prince but Baba stole her away from Bursa and brought her with him to Constantinople." Trailing off, the assassin had to think hard to remember what else had been asked and then made a pleased sound as he recalled them, "I am allergic to Jimsonweed, I hate red spices, my favourite thing to eat are honeyed dates and my favourite colour is gold. Past lovers...my first one was a bastard and used me – so Baba beat him up and had him transferred – second was a merchants son, who felt bad about having sex against a religious monument and spent the rest of his time praying. Third was...I was a bit drunk and he ended up setting his eyebrows on fire at some point..."

Giovanni made a choked sound and signalled for him to stop, "I can not remember all of that! And I really do not want to hear about guys you slept with..." What was his favourite food again? "Are you making up for not being able to talk all day yesterday? I am still wrapping my head around your large family!"

"Oh, I did not mention my nephew and niece yet or – mmph." Lips had quickly sealed over his and the message was clear; 'you are talking too much'. He hadn't touched the other man like this in over a week, Giovanni's kiss was needy but so much was passion was being held back for Devrim's benefit. Even when he managed to get uncooperative hands to rest on his shoulders and pull him into a deeper kiss, the Italian wouldn't let go. Breaking apart for air, Devrim tried to continue but was rebuked quickly, "Tease."

Panting out a little laugh, the Italian rested his forehead against Devrim's, far too affected by the kiss than was normal, "If I continue I would go too far, I would want to climb on top of you and devour your lips until I passed out from lack of air." A look from his lover told him that was completely acceptable, "Your fever has only just broken, you are weakened from lack of food and it would cause too much strain to your body, the bruising is better but if you were to bleed again..."

"I am not so wounded." came the reply, "If we were careful and you were to be on top of me, we could do it – it would mean you doing all the work and I am not sure you are ready for that without hurting yourself."

An indignant sound came from his side, "Hurting myself? Are you challenging me, Tazim?"

"Maybe tomorrow I will challenge you but today," trying to stroke his hand through brunette hair and coming up short reminded Devrim he wasn't quite able, he rested it back on the bed as if it weighed a ton, "Today I am tired and you look like crap, you have been awake for nearly two days nursing me. You do not want me to become ill because of worry for you, do you?" He didn't like such a cheap trick, "Lay here and take a nap with me, Matteo will continue to guard that door until you allow him back in, you do not need to protect me from anything."

Giovanni glanced at the door and for a second his heart clenched at the sentinel assassin that was behind it. As he had said, Matteo was waiting outside the door waiting to be called and as the younger twin helped Devrim lay down on his back, putting the pillows he had been using to sit up on in place, Giovanni felt a little guilty. "What does your name mean?"

They settled down together, Giovanni's head resting on the man's shoulder and instantly feeling all the stress from the past few days boring down on him. "My name? It means Revolution...and it also means; man who steals the covers."

(Next chapter I attempt to write porn and the ship arrives at the dock)


	9. Chapter 9

**Open Sea one day from port 1511**

It was a better day for Devrim, his body seeming to have lost most of its lucidness, he wasn't going to be running across the rooftops any time soon but he could move around the room by himself and even though his stomach hurt like a bitch it felt more like overworked muscles. The door to the cabin opened and Devrim smiled at the man as he entered, "Did you sleep well?"

"You do realise I am not Vanni, right?" Matteo didn't think there was any sane reason for Devrim to be speaking to him other than mistaken identity. "Should you be walking around?"

The Turk rolled his eyes at him and leaned against the beam in the room, "I know who you are and if I stay in that bed any longer I will lose all feeling in my backside...seriously, Matteo, where are you sleeping? Come back to this room before I have to strangle your brother."

Matteo started at that, "You are not fighting because of me are you? I do not fancy you, at all, stubble, lack of breasts and a penis really do not get me going – I was not actually flirting with you in any serious sense..." He gave a slight, childish pout, "I like vagina...like REALLY like vagina. It is practically my life. Kill a Templar, get vagina, complete an information mission, get vagina, do well in training – get vagina paid for by Padre. Why the fuck are you laughing?"

Devrim was laughing so hard it actually hurt quite badly, he was hunched over with his hands on his knees as he nearly howled in hysterics, "N-nothing...just..." he was trying to stop, really he was but the adorable petulant look on Matteo's face was funny and his insistence on his sexuality to the point he had said vagina five times in less than ten seconds, "_Eğer komiksin_! Really funny...I am dying..." Actually that may have been true.

"You are making fun of me!" Matteo saw Devrim nodding in agreement and really wasn't sure what to make of it – he was being laughed at. He stood there and crossed his arms until the laughing subsided into chuckles and then the occasional snort as Devrim wiped his eyes before straightening up. "Finished?"

"_Evet_..." A snicker escaped him as he said it but he pressed his lips together to contain himself, "Ahem, so...we have established that you like..." a cough, "Women. I am glad I did not break your heart by refusing your fake advances." But he couldn't waste time laughing at the other, "We are not fighting, simply put; he does not like me taking your side – though I honestly see no sides. I just want all this misunderstanding put behind us, I am a jerk, you are an idiot and your brother is stubborn; mistakes happened. I forgive you and you forgive me for the shaky start with Giovanni. All three of us have established that that I am happy having sex with your brother, he is happy I am having sex with him and you think it is really strange but are happy that at least I love your brother while I am having sex with him."

"You are so straight forward..." Matteo didn't want to hear the word sex and Giovanni in the same sentence, it was one thing knowing his twin was attracted to men but a completely different thing to hear about it and see the looks. "Do you love him? It seems too soon to claim something like that." Devrim seemed confused if the wrinkle between his eyebrows was anything to go by, "_Amore_...I think your word is...um..._Sevmek_?"

The Turk nodded slightly, "I see." Perhaps the word he used was to strong at this point in their new relationship, "My feelings do not run that deep yet...I want him to be happy and I am sad when he is sad...Adoration seems a better word for my feelings – is that acceptable?"

00

**Venice 1498**

_Ezio was at a loss. Stood silently, staring at a grave as some priest gave last rites to the mother of his children felt surreal. His friends were there of course, his uncle Mario, sister and his mother, who had recovered well over the years, were stood with him. He had failed to protect his family again – from a simple group of thugs. Would he have felt better if it had been a Templar attack to take Carlotta and destroy two little boys world's? "She will come back, right, Nonna?" His guts twisted at the question; Matteo had asked it again and again in hopes that someone would tell him she would...he just did not understand or refused._

"_Ezio," his uncle placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded toward a waiting carriage, "Let me take the twins to Monteriggioni with your mother and sister, they will be safer than you bringing them next week...I think you could do with a break too." That sounded good. For him and the boys, they needed to get away from Venice and the smell of death that clung to the city like fog. _

_Heaving a sigh, the assassin squeezed the little hand in his and walked with Matteo to the carriage, first helping his mother in and then placing the boy on her lap, "You be good for Nonna, do what she says and I will see you very soon." Matteo nodded compliantly and practically nuzzled into his father's hand as he stroked his cheek fondly, "Good boy."_

_Leonardo was stood behind him with Giovanni in his arms. This would be a little harder; the boy came out of his waking coma four days ago, latching onto the artist who had come to visit and not letting go. He cried and fought whenever Leonardo tried to leave, resulting in the blonde taking full care f the child after explaining that it would be better, just until the shock wore down and the risk of Giovanni opening his wound was gone._

_Leonardo could not think of a moment in the past four days he had not been touching the child in some way. Giovanni sat in his lap when they ate, he curled into Leonardo when they slept...when he could sleep, they bathed together, when the man was working then he would sit in his lap or by his feet holding onto his leg. "He has not said a word...it is like he is not even in there...just stares off into the distance. Even when he has nightmares he just cries." The blonde rubbed his chin against the top of Giovanni's head and felt little arms hold a little tighter around his neck, "I tried everything, Ezio."_

"_I know, amico, thank you for trying...what did your friend say?" _

"_Said he was insane, that it was a matter of time before he cracked and lost all rational thought – we are no longer friends." Leonardo practically spat the words out, still fuming about the fight he had had with one of his associates, "It is not true! He needs a little time, imagine what he saw them do to her; he will be alright...your mother came through it."_

_Ezio looked at his mother as she gently fussed over Matteo, she had been just as unresponsive and even though there was a piece of her missing, a gap his father and brothers left, she was healthy again. "You are right. Leo." The other man gave him a look that said, 'of course I am, I am Leonardo god damn Da Vinci'. "Ready?"_

"_Not at all." Heaving a sigh, Leonardo pulled the child from him and the second Ezio's hands were on the boy to take him away Giovanni let out a whine, hands digging into the artist's clothing. "Gio, let go, caro, you need to go with Papa..." that was when the real crying began and the blonde felt terrible as he worked fingers loose from his collar, "You can not stay with me, I am going away and you will love Monteriggioni – it will be like having your own castle! It is going to be exciting and - " During the struggle, Giovanni had gotten hold of a handful of hair, little boy knew how to stop them in their tracks._

_Mario joined them and gently began untangling hair from fingers, "Think about Matteo, he will be lonely if you do not come and you are big enough to ride all on your own, I have a horse that will fit you just right." Usually the large mercenary would not stoop to bribing a child but he understood how fragile his great nephew was, "Your grandmother has missed spending time with you too." Leonardo pulled his head back whilst the bigger man distracted the child, "Do you not want to go with your Papa?" _

"_No!"_

_All three froze, that was the first thing Giovanni had said in days, "Gio, please go with Papa." Leonardo implored him, finally managing to get him half way into Ezio's arms. _

"_No!" Struggling in earnest, Giovanni began to sob loudly, reaching for the artist with everything he had, "I want to stay with you!" Leonardo tried to quiet him, worried about how strained his voice sounded and how it cut out and squeaked the louder he yelled, "I do not want to go with him!" _

"_Gio..." Ezio let go of him and watched as he clung to Leonardo, "He is bleeding," the assassin reached for the reddening bandage around his son's neck only to have it smacked away and a pair of wild, golden eyes pin him with a glare, "...Gio?"_

"_No."_

00

**Open Sea 1511**

"Hey," Giovanni's head turned with the light pressure of Devrim's hand on his cheek, "You look so sad, what is wrong?" He allowed the Turk to place light kisses on his mouth until he felt a smile forming.

He had thought Devrim was sleeping when he laid down beside him on the small bed and let his mind drift, "I had an epiphany the other day, when I was threatening my brother, I could not believe the amount of rage in me, it was like I could have torn him apart and it got me thinking." The Italian propped himself up on his elbow, "I was horrible to my father, I went from an impossible child, to a teenager that hardly said two words to him, then to a man who was indifferent whether his father was in one country or another and he did not deserve that..."

"You remembered?" Devrim asked in surprise, "So you know what happened to those men, I guess you always knew but to see - "

"I want to talk to him about it first." He interrupted, finger pushing against the man's lips to quiet him, "We arrive in the morning, I am looking forward to seeing your country and seeing how your brotherhood works – but you know what I am really looking forward to?"

"No – oh!" a hand snuck into his trousers and an eager set of teeth nibbled along his ear, "I guess I am strong enough now to do this, that is if your hand around my cock means what I think it does."

"Well, it does not mean I want to play chess."

"But I like chess!"

Giovanni stared down at him with an unimpressed look, "...Devrim. I am trying to be sexy, I had a strip tease all planned out and you are not helping." Devrim grinned boyishly at him, sealing their mouths together as he reversed their positions. Dipping his tongue into Giovanni's mouth, he sighed happily at the familiar taste, the familiar feel of another tongue sliding against his own and suddenly he was so glad to be alive. He pulled away and the Italian followed his lips with his own, pressing their lips together twice more until Devrim was too far away for him to reach, "What are you doing?" Instead of answering the other, Devrim removed Giovanni's trousers in one smooth movement – delighted his body was no longer rebelling against him.

A warmth enveloped the head of his semi erect length, teasing him a little at first before Devrim pulled his mouth away, his tongue giving a broad swipe at the sensitive head before moving to lave the entire length with the wicked muscle. Sucking at the skin between the root and Giovanni's balls, the Turk sent a smug look up at his partner, tongue now teasing and pressing against the prominent vein under the other's cock, "I told you I would teach you a few tricks and you are the most delicious thing I have had in days." It was a slightly backhanded compliment as he had been eating that nasty soup morning, noon and night, "We do not have much time alone tonight, so do not worry if you miss anything." Sinking down upon the other, scraping his teeth along the way just to feel the other tense, tanned fingers slipped into his inky hair, unconsciously giving Devrim a firm push until he'd taken him to the hilt. Gagging for a second and pulling back an inch, the older man adjusted his angle until he could take the entire length comfortably. He wasn't so lucky to have no gag reflex so this was a little harder than the Auditore would have found it.

Giovanni panted into the pillows, too wrapped up in his own pleasure to notice a finger rubbing against his entrance and when he did it was already inside him pressing against his prostate. "Ah! Devrim...come on, I will not break..."

"Is your entire family this impatient?" Pushing a second finger in alongside the first, Devrim watched Giovanni arch gracefully and twist his head a little further into the pillow as if trying to muffle his moan, "I want to see your face, Gigi."

"Do not call me tha – aaa – t!" Another finger stretched him and at the same time a warm, wet mouth wrapped around his length again, the pleasure far outweighing the uncomfortable feel of being worked loose by slick fingers – when had he even gotten the jar of oil from under the bed? The Italian shivered at the dual sensations, hips rocking on instinct to get more, "I do not want to wait; I am ready, Devrim." When it seemed Devrim hadn't heard or was ignoring him Giovanni wound the Turk's hair into his fist and gave a sharp yank up.

The older assassin hissed in a breath, his own hand reaching up and digging its thumb into Giovanni's wrist until the pressure point forced his hair to be freed. He crawled up his lover's body, tearing the man's shirt as he went, buttons popping off in all directions and harsh bites rained down on tan skin, "Do you want me to be rough, Gio?" Devrim growled into his ear, nipping almost painfully, "Because if you pull my hair again I will turn you over and fuck you so hard you will be unable to sit down for a week." He was interested in the look of sweet agony of Giovanni's face, purely from his voice, that he was too late in noticing legs curling around his waist and flipping them.

"I hope that is a promise, _caro_, maybe when you are fully healed?" Finding the jar of oil on the bedside, Giovanni snatched it up, a smug smile forming as he realised how cold it felt and slathered it rather mercilessly up and down Devrim's shaft. The man below him jumped and an indignant little sound escaped him – sounding strangely like 'see if I warm it up for you next time'. "Do not be such a baby~" Taking hold of Devrim, Giovanni carefully positioned himself and lowered onto the throbbing length pressed against his stretched hole. Breathing out in a whoosh of breath as the head opened him, "I am fine." His gold eyes shut at the discomfort, his bottom lip was pulling into his mouth as he chewed on it as a distraction.

Devrim's hands didn't hesitate even with the Italian's claim, firmly taking hold of his lover's hips and stopping his advance, "Get used to it, when it stops being painful; continue." Easy enough to say but he wanted the man to sit down and ride him, he was still deliciously tight like the first time, the only difference being that the Italian was less nervous and relaxing his muscles on near instinct as he took more of him in until they were flush against each other, "Gigi?"

The brunette nodded quietly, "So deep...fuck, I can feel every inch of you." He clenched around the intrusion, shivering delightedly at the feel and hitched breath of his partner, a crooked little grin appearing as he did it again, "I like it up here."

"You are such a child," Giovanni huffed at him, Devrim couldn't help teasing him, he was too cute sometimes and the Turk just had to tell him, even if it irritated the man. Other times – like now – the Auditore stopped being cute and turned into every wet dream Devrim had ever had. Giovanni sat up straight, his thighs tensing as he lifted his body up and then relaxed as he let his body carefully slide back down causing them both to sigh or groan. He did it again, more confident this time as he repeated the motion and Devrim's eyes were drawn to the lean body partially covered by the torn shirt, he found it sexier than if Giovanni was naked – those curious glimpses of tanned skin. A flash of muscles working under his stomach, a dusky nipple peeking from the silk material as it began to slip over a bite marked shoulder. If Giovanni was turned on by his voice than he had to admit he was turned on by watching this man just moving. His hips thrust up against the younger man as he was coming down, one of those silent cries contorting his face into a mask of pleasure, slits of gold barely seen through a shield of eyelashes.

0

Matteo left one of his lady friend's cabin, feeling better for the bath and succour of the occupant. It was nice to have slept in a bed for a little while instead of outside the cabin door waiting and waiting for Giovanni to forgive him – he heard Devrim blackmailing his brother earlier and had permission to sleep in the room again. Giovanni hadn't said a single word to him in days and that had never happened before, a day was the longest – even when Giovanni had stopped talking when they were little he still stayed by Matteo's side. He wouldn't look at him, wouldn't speak to him or even acknowledge that Matteo was there and it hurt. Really hurt.

He was beginning to break apart inside at the thought of his twin rejecting him. With a massive sigh, he walked into the shared room and froze on the spot, his eyes nearly falling out of their sockets. He turned around and sat outside the door, hands over his eyes as if he'd been blinded. "_Mio Dio_, my brother is fucking another man...I saw it...I can not un-see that!"

0

Giovanni paused in his movements, head turning slightly to gaze at the door, "I thought..."

"It was nothing," Devrim supplied quickly and rocked his hips upwards hard enough to make his injuries hurt. Anything to distract him from figuring out his brother had just gotten an eyeful. "The bed creaking – I do not care; move!"

The Italian gasped as Devrim thrust into him, forgetting his rational thoughts as he thought about what he should be thinking about. His hands found purchase on the other's raised knees, using them to balance as he tried to find his prostate, their hips making a satisfying slap as skin hit skin. One of Devrim's hands left his hip and curled around his cock, stroking it with every downward thrust, everything intensified with a tiny shift of their bodies, Giovanni throwing his head back in rapture as he felt the familiar jolt of his sweet spot being brushed.

He wanted to watch the Italian ride him all night, wanted to watch his cock being swallowed greedily by Giovanni's tight little hole and he wanted to watch the man gasp and pant his name. But he needed more than this; it wasn't fast enough, wasn't hard enough. Sitting up, Devrim buried himself into the inviting heat of his lover and pushed forward with his body until Giovanni was on his back, legs still gripping Devrim's waist, moaning wantonly as the shift rubbed against his prostate. "What about your injury?"

"Do not care. You feel amazing…better than anyone else I have been with." Devrim pulled out a little and thrust back in jerkily, discomfort shooting through his abused muscles but not enough to make him ever stop. "Hot, tight…you should see the way this greedy little hole grips my cock as I pull out and..." he pulled a little further out this time, "How eagerly it swallows me up again." The Turk's thrust was accentuated with a harsh cry being ripped from Giovanni's throat, "I want to make you scream and moan for me, whether it is silent or - " He lifted the tanned leg over his shoulder and revelled in the loud, desperate, near scream that came from the other, "Loud." It was a little hit and miss but he had just about figured out when Giovanni's voice would work and when it would fail – one day he was going to make the other hoarse from yelling.

Giovanni let himself drop onto the mattress and groaned as his prostate was brushed again, his head digging into it, his hips beginning to rock up against Devrim's as the thrusts became faster and more forceful. Moaning loudly again and clenching around the intruding organ – loving how Devrim pistoned into him a little harder and loving the shots of fire it sent hurtling through his body. He could feel that heavy cock rubbing his insides, the burn of being pulled tight over the same cock and the constant attention to his prostate, he couldn't think – could hardly breathe.

Devrim smirked in a smug kind of satisfaction Giovanni was getting so swept up, his head was thrashing from side to side, hair worked loose from the red tie that had held it, His hands were clawing at the the assassin's hips to bring him closer and those beautifully lewd sounds were sinful. The sweat slicking their bodies stung the scratches they were gradually giving each other in the desperate attempt to hold on to something – anything! Devrim let out a strangled groan as he stiffened first, biting into his lover's thigh as his body locked and he thrust as deep as he could. He forced his silver eyes open so he could watch the man beneath him come hard into his hand, some of it spattering across his stomach and chest.

00

The three assassin's finished dressing themselves, making sure their weapons and supplies were ready and their hoods in place before packing their belongings. They would be arriving soon, the ship a quarter of a mile from the docks, everything was ready. "Have you got your papers?" Giovanni asked as he plaited his hair quickly – so used to leaving it loose these last few months – flipping his hood back up after he'd done and grabbing his boot dagger.

"I will wait until the ship is anchored and people are actually getting off, I do not want to be pick pocketed in a crowd of passengers."

"You forgot your mask." Matteo said, feeling a little awkward after seeing them together the night before, "How do you see out of this thing?"

"Very easily, put it on and see for yourself – see?"

Matteo tied it behind his head and looked around the room, surprised at his obscured vision and how easily it rested on top of his head under his hood, "So that is where you put it when you are done." Devrim opened his mouth to warn the Italian that the mask slipped often but it rolled down and hit Matteo's nose. "Ah! _Cazzo_!"

"The cause of many bruised, assassin noses." The Turk chuckled, "I am going up on deck for a while."

Giovanni followed behind him closely, "I will go with you." The door was opened and before either man could step out a small ball rolled into the room with a 'tink', stopping at Matteo's boot. The older Auditore leant down and picked it up, throwing it in the air and catching it like a toy, "What is that?" Giovanni asked.

Throwing his lover behind him, Devrim shouted at Matteo, "Put it down! It is a - !"

0

Devrim pulled Giovanni through the sea water as he swam toward dry land, the explosion having stunned the Italian and made him too disorientated to swim by himself for the moment. He wasn't much better himself and he could feel the urge to close his eyes for a moment begin to overtake him, he needed to get Giovanni out of the water first and then he could rest a minute. He was sinking in the cool, clear waters, not even aware of when he'd stopped paddling until water rushed into his mouth. Struggling to keep hold of Giovanni and get above the surface, Devrim barely noticed when something dragged them both up and the wooden walkways came closer and closer. "Yusuf! Take him!" The Turk fought to hold onto his lover as he was pulled up and away, "Here, make sure he stays awake." And then he was being pulled up by unfamiliar hands out of the water, his saviour climbing out straight after him, "You really do look like your father." Devrim's eyes focussed for just a second and he vaguely realised that Giovanni had aged thirty years, grown a beard, got a scar on his lip and changed his outfit – how nice.

"Is he alright?" Yusuf rushed over to his barely conscious child and clapped Ezio on the back, "How did you spot them so far out? Ah, look at him! He must have been pretty close to the blast to be this confused – Devrim, oi, Devrim, come on, wake up for me."

When Devrim opened his eyes, he first noticed a familiar, female assassin staring down at him, a relieved look on her face as she helped him sit up, telling him to close his eyes to fend off the dizziness threatening to make him ill. The second thing he notice was yelling, shrill, panicked yelling that cut in and out of being heard, at first he thought his hearing was going in and out but as he looked around the walkway he realised Giovanni was being held back by a man in soaking wet, white robes. The man's voice the most strained Devrim had heard it, "Fuck...Help me up before that idiot falls in!"

"I do not think Mentor Ezio would let that happen," She said to him. Mentor Ezio? That was Giovanni's father then? Devrim had only ever glimpsed Ezio once and had not recognised him, "The little Italian's brother is still in the water, we have a few men looking but it was a big bang." The Turk nodded in agreement, he leaned heavily on her as his vision swam, waiting only until it cleared enough for him to walk straight before heading to Giovanni.

"Matteo! Let me go! Matteo!" Giovanni fought against the arms around his middle and tried to forcibly drag himself to the end of the walkway, "Matteo!" Where was he? He should be here by now, he was an excellent swimmer, he should have been right behind them! Another pair of arms were around him and someone was speaking into his ear.

"Giovanni, you are hurt! If you go back into the water you will drown for certain!" Devrim was holding him back with the help of Ezio, both trying to restrain without hurting him, "Please calm down, if he is alive we will find him."

Giovanni managed to tear away from the Turk and his father, staring at him open mouthed, "If? IF? How can you say that!" He felt his father pull him into a tight embrace, trapping the young man's hands against his chest and squeezing him.

"Your brother is just fashionably late. Stop fighting, you have half the ship embedding into your skull and you are doing your mime act again." When he said the words 'mime act', Ezio felt one of his son's hands wriggle free and inspect the scar on his neck – only then realising his voice had been lost during his rant at Devrim, he stilled in defeat, "Have a little faith in Matteo."

Devrim sat on the walkway heavily, his mind reeling still from the explosion, only a little more used to it than the twins were. Someone crouched down beside him and when he looked he had to smile at least a little, "Baba," He threw his arms around the man's neck and hugged him as hard as he could, "I told you not to throw me a party."

"I thought fireworks on a boat would be interesting." Yusuf replied easily as he held his son close to him, getting soaked in the process. "Where is the other Auditore?"

Devrim shook his head at the man, "A bomb was thrown into our cabin, time delayed by a fuse and that idiot picked it up..." The image of Matteo bending down to swipe the object refused to budge from his mind's eye, "He did not know what it was – I should have done something!"

Yusuf patted the man's back sympathetically and stood up to glance at his friend, Ezio looked grim, had he heard what Devrim had said? Did he understand them enough to put one and one together? He opened his mouth to say something, anything really, when another explosion went off on the sinking ship, this one more spectacular than the first as its gunpowder cargo went off in the fires. His grey eyes watched as the young man broke free from his father and once more tried to dive into the water, didn't he realise that even if his brother hadn't been blown to pieces with the grenade that he would surely be dead after that. "Giovanni...please come with me...we can not stay here." Guards would be swarming the docks at any moment and the multitude of assassins come to investigate or help should be making their escapes now.

"But...what about Matteo?" He knew it sounded like a pathetic whine, even Ezio looked miserable at the sound as he held his hand out for his youngest, "He will not know where to meet us..."

"Gigi, if...when," he corrected himself to avoid another outburst, "Matteo gets ashore, he will find you – the guards will execute us on the spot if we stay any longer." Devrim struggled to stand, his father moved to support him but Giovanni beat him to it, not noticing the look passing from Yusuf to Devrim. They started away from the scene; Yusuf ahead of them encase of an attack, the younger assassins behind him following as quickly as their injured states allowed them and Ezio at the rear.

Giovanni glanced over his shoulder, his father hadn't moved yet, he was searching the water, eyes straining as he used his heightened senses. His right hand was clenched in a fist; the same hand he had extended to Giovanni, asking him to follow, that he had unintentionally ignored to help his lover. He shuffled to a stop, apologising as he nearly toppled Devrim, "Papa?" Reaching out his hand, Giovanni waited for his father to stop staring at him like he'd grown an extra head and follow.

(Matteo saw gay sex and then he died.)


	10. Chapter 10

**Gelata HQ**

The mood at the hide out was sombre, Devrim sat dejectedly in the corner with his younger brother stood beside him, occasionally giving him a slap if he looked like he was going to drift to sleep, "My daughter will kill me if you fall asleep and die, Dev, have some consideration for my happiness." Karamat avoided the punch to his leg and smirked when Devrim's sudden move made him groan, "Moron."

They watched as Yusuf carefully pulled splinters out of Giovanni's temple with a pair of tweezers. The doctors were all tending to the wounded on the docks and Ezio had nearly taken his son's eye out when trying to help, so that left the Ottoman Mentor to administer first aid. "Karamat, stop winding your brother up." he sighed, he had forgotten how the two brothers niggled at each other, "Ece, can you get your favourite Baba some of that cooling salve?" The twelve year old girl 'helping him' nodded and ran quickly out of the room, long plait whipping behind her like a tail. "Which reminds me; How did you and your sister get out of palace work today?"

The question was aimed at the man beside Devrim and he straightened, "Ece mentioned to the prince that our brother was returning home from a long trip and he insisted we take the day off, Sulleiman would not take no for an answer – especially when she had gone to so much trouble of arranging his clothing into colour order...Well, what else are the child servants supposed to do other than clean and run small errands? More and more little girls working there everyday, I guess the Sultan thinks they are too young to attempt an assassinations...Ece tripped one of them today."

The little girl ran back in and placed the salves down next to her father, taking a cloth and applying some before stepping up to Giovanni and pressing it to his neck, with how sore it looked she knew it was for that. Devrim and Ezio stood quickly, both expecting him to strike out at the child and wanting to intervene. Giovanni grabbed the sides of his chair, the wood creaking in the punishing hold as his body went rigid as flashes of memory assaulted him – he refused to freeze up in front of all of these strangers. Yusuf paused in his treatment, gently tugging on his daughter to bring her away, "_Ağrıyor_?" She asked quietly and watched with large grey eyes as Giovanni held the cloth to his scar, his knuckles still white from holding the chair so tightly.

"_Beni şaşırttı, güzel şey_." He watched her blush, her hands winding her hair in a shy gesture, seemingly pleased she had not hurt him after all and his compliment. He looked at his father and Devrim with displeased eyes, "I am not going to hit a little girl, have some confidence in me..."

"I would hope not," Yusuf said matter of factly, inspecting the cut once more and deeming it 'not too bad', "Keep that on your neck a little longer to help the swelling and maybe avoid yelling for the rest of the evening." The assassin stood up from his chair and stretched out his back, "This was easier when I was younger..."

A chorus of, "When were you ever young?" came from his children and Yusuf grumbled under his breath that he should have drowned them when they were babies, "Father," Karamat spoke up, "Shall I tell the search party to stop for the night?"

"No, if he dragged himself out of the water he is more likely to wait until dark to move in a strange place." They were speaking of Matteo, it was a pointless search but the Master was doing it for Ezio's sake. "Karamat, take Ece to bed and go home to your wife, I need you alert for any gossip you hear tomorrow. Ezio," The Italian nodded and went ahead of the man towards the library, they had things to discuss and Yusuf followed him out.

Devrim and Giovanni were left alone in the room, the older man moving behind Giovanni's chair and kissing the cut on his lover's right temple, "You handled that well, my little sister never thinks before she does something...you did not even have a panic attack." He kissed his lips gently when Giovanni tipped his head up to offer them, "How did you manage that?"

He shrugged a little, "Too many strange people to panic...I would be long dead by now if I froze up in a fight...I was worried I would not wake up." He felt Devrim rest his head on top of his and shuddered as his thoughts turned downward, "Matteo brings me back...if he can not do it with words then he just lays with me – I was horrible to him...I told him I hated him and that I was going to kill him...h-he must have felt so lonely." Feeling the tears stinging his eyes, Giovanni tried to hold on, "Why did he pick that thing up? It exploded in his hand...he died thinking I hated him!"

"No, no!" The Turk hugged him tightly, "He might be alright, he might have let it go when I shouted and is just dazed...I did not see - "

"He was holding it. I saw it go off in his face." It sounded so final and even though Devrim was holding him, he wanted his brother. "I want to go to sleep...I want to forget about today and I just want you to hold me..."

"We should not sleep for a few more hours in case of concussion, I can think of something we can do to help dull the pain." Even if it was just for a little while. His hand wandered down the gap in Giovanni's still damp clothes, pinching a nipple and catching the gasp in his mouth, Devrim planned on distracting the other from any distressing thoughts.

"Ahem." Someone had come into the room whilst they were busy with each other and they watched with fascination as the two men practically jumped a foot in the air and parted, Devrim nearly falling into the fireplace and Giovanni knocking the chair under a table. They stood at attention, stunned looks matching as they looked at the intruder.

Devrim choked out his words with difficulty, "Father! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Sneaky old fucker!" his fingers carded through his hair and he breathed a massive sigh of relief. "I nearly fell into the fire! Fuck..."

Next to him, Giovanni still hadn't moved, he had never been caught with a man before and he really didn't know what to do, "Relax, Gigi...it is just my father. I already wrote to him of you."

"Maybe so but I can not deal with you kissing boys in the main room, if you are going to go at it like rabbits, please do so in your bedroom." Yusuf picked up the papers he had forgotten and shook his head of the image, he was fine with it, really he was but it was weird...really weird. It was amusing how they had nearly killed themselves when he let them know of his presence though, even the 'scared deer' impression Ezio's son was doing was funny. "He told me he was going to bang you up against a beam and make you his personal sex slave."

Giovanni's head snapped to pin a glare on Devrim, "I did not! Baba," Too late did Devrim notice the teasing glint in his father's eyes, "I am going to kill you!"

"How did I know there was a beam if you did not write me those words?" It was a wind up but the predatory look in Giovanni's eyes as Devrim squirmed was the best, "And no gag reflex, that must be wonderful.

"...I wrote you one letter! One!" Devrim pointed an accusing finger at his father and leaned away from Giovanni as the man blushed red and his jaw dropped, "It said I was going to pursue him – nothing else! You are making it up!"

Tipping his head back and laughing, Yusuf leaned against the door frame victorious at embarrassing them both to the point of pointing fingers and goldfish mouths, "Too easy! You are so easy to wind up, Dev, and your boyfriend has such an adorable little blush," He watched the Italian stare down at his boots, humiliated to the point of nearly combusting, "Do not worry, he told me nothing, I only know about your gag reflex because we tried to make you puke the water up, your father told me." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Devrim picking up things to throw at him, "Well, I need to go – enjoy the sex!" a shoe bounced off the door frame as the man escaped.

00

Ezio laid on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, sleep would not come to him tonight or any night until he at least could bury his son and then he would have nightmares. Why did he follow? He should have stayed in Roma! Why did that boy have to follow him to another country, he was not a child, he was an independent adult... He never planned to outlive either of his children and Matteo had been too young by far...stupid, stupid boy, should have stayed at home!

"Papa."

Ezio sat up and looked at the intruder in his room, the candlelight hardly illuminating them, "Matteo?" The figure stepped further into the room and Ezio's hope was crushed, "Vanni...Is something wrong?" He couldn't think of one time his youngest son had ever come to him on his own, maybe Yusuf sent him? "Give me a moment and I...will..."

Giovanni wasn't listening to him, not really, he got onto the bed, his back towards his father but resting against the assassin's side, "I just want to be close to you, I can not stand being alone right now and I am hurting – I know you must be too and I know you understand this kind of hurt. And I know I always told you I never needed you but right now...I...I need my papa...I need you to just..." He hadn't wanted to cry in front of Devrim, didn't want to show him how broken and lost he was without his twin – that nothing in the world would ever fit the gaping hole Matteo left behind. "I s-said...I...I can not even tell him I am sorry! Those words I threw at him are the last thing he had of me! Papa, I messed up! I really messed up!" Curling up into himself further, Giovanni couldn't stop the sobs racking through him.

"Shh," Ezio pulled the boy against him, rocking him as if he were a little child again, "I will not lie to you. The pain you feel now, it will never go away, it might dull with time but it will always hurt...You will survive it, you do not need me to tell you that though."

"I need you, I never ever stopped needing you – I just was too stupid to see it." And he held onto Ezio harder than he ever had, harder than he'd held onto Leonardo at his mother's funeral and he wasn't going to let go.

00

Constantinople was beautiful, it was busy and bright and noisy and it smelled amazing. Giovanni had never seen so much colour, "There is a catacomb in that tower." He said to Devrim as he jogged toward it.

"...There is no catacomb, I would know." What was this obsession with those things? "We are going to climb it, but first," He pulled out an arm bracer from behind his back, waiting since early morning to give it to the man, "Your very own hook blade, I have been told to have you trained how to use this by the end of the day." He pulled another blade out and shrugged a little, "Your father had them commissioned, he was going to send them to you and your brother for your twenty first birthday, one is left handed and one is right...I do not know which you are."

"Right handed." He took the bracer and studied it carefully, "The engraving is beautiful, I would have been very jealous of Matteo, he would have rubbed it in that he had one and I did not..."

"What do you mean?" There were two hook blades and they would have gotten them at the same time.

"His birthday is a day before mine...he was born before midnight bell and I was born after, so my birthday is the day after. Can I see the other?" He took the other bracer and studied that one as he had his own, smiling a little at the different engravings, personalised for them both. He gave it back and watched Devrim jog back to the headquarters, returning quickly and helping him with the bracer. He had missed the Turk, they had only been apart for the night but Devrim had been so understanding, not asking him why he had left their room in the night, not coddling him and instead acting as if everything was normal. "So, teach me how to use this, Mentor."

Devrim grinned boyishly, "I like that!" After about an hour of showing him the best things to hook onto and a few tips and tricks he knew. Devrim spotted his younger brother and called out to him quickly before the assassin flitted away, "Oi, Karamat! Hook up!" And he ran at the other, hook blade extending as he used it to flip over his brother's back and carry on a few paces before his brother returned the favour unexpectedly.

"I would love to help more, Dev, unfortunately I need to get to work." And he was gone.

Devrim watched the other retreat, "And that is a - whoa!" Giovanni ran at him, executing the same move, landing a little wobbly but it was a good first attempt, "Good, that move is useful when you need to go through a guard and there is no wall to kick off from. Are you ready to climb the tower?" At the Italian's ready nod they walked to the base but Giovanni hesitated a moment. "What is it? Too high?"

"No, not so high as some things I have climbed, this is just very open," He gestured to the people milling around, going about their daily lives, "It seems a little careless, Devrim..."

"Oh...no, it is fine!" The Turk assured him, "Gelata is the Ottoman brotherhood's. We kind of own it or we are really territorial but anyone who lives here...well, they do not see us – if you can understand that?" It had always been that way, ever since he was a toddler hanging onto his mother's skirt, watching with the biggest eyes as his father climbed the tower, no one around him seeming to notice or think it odd and all he could think was, 'will they be angry if Baba makes a big splat?'. The assassins protected the people and they protected the assassins. "I will meet you at the top!" and he was gone, eight foot off the ground before Giovanni could blink.

Giovanni struggled with the limited handholds available, still unsure of his new hook blade and its sturdiness. Devrim had deliberately slowed to allow him to catch up, suggesting good places to hold onto and where he needed to adjust his grip. Matteo would have been faster, not caring whether the hook would hold or not, would be laughing an teasing him for being so cautious...He would have... Giovanni's fingers slipped on a ledge as his thoughts wandered to his twin, almost imagining he was there with them. "Gio!" The Italian heard scrabbling above him as air whooshed up and a sudden jolt as his free fall came to a halt, his hands holding onto a metal grate in the stone. "Shit! I thought you were going to fall!" Devrim climbed down beside him, concern clear on his face, "I thought this would be a good distraction for you..."

"Sorry, it is like I have a shadow in the corner of my eyes, I can hear what Matteo would say and I just slipped. Come on, I want to see the view!" Putting on his best attempt at a smile he began climbing with more confidence, his speed gaining as he concentrated on his next holding. Ignoring the other man tailing him like a kicked puppy. They kept climbing until both pulled their bodies over the lip of the tower, "I can not believe how tired I am..." He laid out on the roof, staring at the blue sky above him as he huffed and puffed, "It was that two months of sitting on my backside with nothing to do...Never travelling again!" He felt Devrim sit beside him, equally out of breath but there was a rasp in his breathing that Giovanni didn't like. "Devrim?" Sitting up the Italian moved to look at the man, "you strained yourself."

"By climbing a little tower?" Both men jumped at the sound of Yusuf's voice – how did he keep sneaking up on them? Even worse was that Ezio was stood beside him with a smug look, "Do not look at me like that, we were here first, right?" The older Italian nodded and they meandered over to the boys. Yusuf waited for his son to stand and he almost felt like he was looking at a stranger; he had not properly looked at Devrim yesterday because of the drama going on.

Devrim's hair, which used to be loose, was pulled back in a loose tail, a teal band keeping the unruly, shoulder length waves of hair out of the way. Where there was once a bearded chin was now a ruggedly stubbled jaw line – when had he gotten so manly? There was no way his son was this broad when he left! "Did you get a job as a dock worker?"

"Someone has to move crates around and it was a good information spot, besides, everyone loves a man with strong arms." He flexed a little until his father gave him a playful shove.

Yusuf rolled his eyes, "Your ego has grown." What else was different? Ah, he was thinner, he only noticed because the man's robes were a little loose. "You lost weight too...you do not even look that much like me any more."

"Sorry about that, the stressed, old man look was not doing it for me." Devrim had hoped his father wouldn't look too closely at his weight loss but what could he do? "I have not had a proper meal in over a week, Baba, do not have new robes made for me yet, it is only temporary."

"_Si_, that reminds me," Ezio piped up, his arms crossing over his chest as he pinned a serious look at his own son, "What happened on that ship last week?"

Giovanni glanced at Devrim and Devrim's eyes darted about as he thought quickly. What were they supposed to say? Matteo punched the Turk so hard that it caused internal bleeding, then Matteo gave him a medicine which poisoned him and nearly killed him? "I had an allergic reaction to jimsonweed." Devrim stared at his boots as he felt the two men look at him – their eyes boring into him almost painfully until he cracked a little, "I got into a fight on the boat and someone may have landed a good hit to my belly...then I might not of said anything...for a few days...please stop looking at me like I am a mouse about to be eaten...please." His father made an upward gesture with his fingers and Devrim silently obeyed as he undid his robes and pulled the under shirt up to bare the bruising on his skin.

"_Budala_!" Yusuf snapped angrily as he looked at the damage, "You should be resting! Not running around and climbing! What if you bleed again? Do not think you will be as lucky as the first time, that a little bit of medicine will help you?" The Turk wanted to slap the boy for being so stupid, "You are grounded."

"I am a grown man, you can not ground me!" Devrim baulked at the idea.

Giovanni put a hand on Devrim's shoulder and without looking at him said, "It would be for the best...you need to rest, recover your strength before you continue training..."

"Seriously? You are supposed to be on my side, Gigi!"

Yusuf threw his arm around Giovanni's shoulders and pulled him into a hug, "Ha! I knew I liked this boy! He has a more sensible head on his shoulders than you." He could see Devrim winding up to argue and when someone climbed over the lip of the tower, Yusuf was quick to let go of Giovanni and hold a finger up to silence his son before he even started, "What is it?"

The assassin novice straightened as he addressed his mentor, "All the bodies have been pulled from the water, there are people who have been treated at the dock along with the bodies...I thought Mentor Auditore would want to know."

00

**Docks**

Ezio looked at the faces of men and women, some injured, some in a state of shock as they waited for relatives to come for them. Matteo was not among them and he turned to the rows of bodies waiting to be claimed; he hoped he would not find his son in the morbid line up. "Vanni, stay here...better yet, go with Devrim and check around the area for any sign of your brother." He might as well have said; stay here while I go find your twin's corpse by the crestfallen look on his son's face. He tapped Giovanni's chin, "Chin up." He received a muttered 'yes' and watched them walk away before turning to the bodies. The first line were all drown victims, some already with grieving relatives around them, the next line were anyone who had been burned in the blast, sailors, men...a sad little bundle that had been a small child, someone having lovingly covered the body in a brightly coloured blanket.

The condition of the bodies got worse and worse until they were unrecognisable, his only comfort was that Matteo had not been in any of the lines. "Papa, no sign of him." Giovanni told him as the two returned to him, "So many were killed...oh..." Giovanni looked at one of the drowned bodies and saw it was the blonde Matteo had spent so many nights with, "Poor girl...she did not deserve this."

"None of them did." Ezio cast one more glance at the scene and breathed out heavily, "Maybe he did swim out...he is not – Giovanni?" The young man pushed past his father and headed straight for a body at the end of the line, every body here was burned so badly it was hard to tell if they were male or female but this one...it had a ring glinting off of its right, ring finger, "Gio?"

Giovanni crouched beside the charred remains, reaching out to carefully examine the ring, rubbing ash from its surface. "Papa..." his voice trembled as he called out to the older man, "Papa this is...it is..." Feeling Ezio crouch beside him and study the piece of gold, Giovanni leaned against him heavily, "I am wrong...say I am wrong."

Devrim pulled Giovanni up bodily before he fell down against his father, "Giovanni, look at me." He turned his lover and gave him a little shake, begging for his attention, he could not let this sink into the Italian's head, "You knew what might have happened to him, you have known since yesterday."

"He...he is unrecognisable! His body is...he does not even have a face, there is no dignity in...in..._Dio._.." He slumped against Devrim, legs turning to jelly as everything seemed to go limp, "I do not understand..." He felt cold all over and everything seemed dampened, two voices calling his name sounded muffled and distorted as his body slowly shut down, the last thing he heard was, ' He has gone into shock!'


	11. Chapter 11

(This is a very, short, very bitty chapter, please do not get lost. It's a sort of cause and effect kind of chapter.)

A week and a half passed by, the world continuing as normal as if his life had not been shaken, his father wore a sombre expression almost all the time, Devrim stayed by his side, talking to him, feeding him and at one point helping him to bathe. The Turk smiled sadly at him but other than that behaved like he wasn't talking to an empty shell, kissing his face when they were alone and holding him close. A familiar scene from thirteen years ago in Venice. People talked about him, he could hear them, 'how is he', 'has he said anything' and 'he looks so miserable' were the most frequent. His father had hoped he would snap out of it after they had buried Matteo – no, not his brother – that charred corpse. He kept hold of his brother's ring, gripped tightly in his palm night and day; had he slept at all? He really couldn't tell, he wasn't even sure what day it was.

"Any change?" Devrim looked up from the lifeless eyes of his lover to Ezio, poor man looked exhausted, "Nothing...I even tried shaking him and yelling but I get no response, he sometimes gets up by himself and does his own thing but even then...nothing." It was breaking his heart to see, "He followed me to the market yesterday, no words or interest in anything around him; like a lost lamb. He was even climbing with me on the rooftops, I thought he was coming back!"

He was running around? That meant that, "...Giovanni." Ezio called out. His son's eyes flitted to him and it was then that the man knew his child was fully aware of his surroundings. "When he was a child, after his mother died, Giovanni would not speak to anyone, he functioned but stayed silent and almost unresponsive...he shuts out the world and builds walls around himself."

Devrim looked at Giovanni with surprise, when had he come out of shock? Was this what he was to expect from now on? "How did you get him to talk again?"

"A horse kicked out at Matteo and Giovanni seemed to wake up, running for help and then talking to his brother the entire time he was out. I think he was so frightened of losing someone else that he decided he would rather live life than observe it. He just needs to find that will again." It would happen, it might take a while but his children always bounced back, Giovanni was strong, he had been through worse – someone had cut his throat and he had lived! "You are a good friend to him, Devrim, I can see why Matteo would be jealous enough to fight with you – Do not look so surprised, I know...knew..." That hurt to say, "I knew Matteo inside and out, always had to have Giovanni by his side even if Giovanni did not want to do what he was doing. He used to scare off anyone who got too friendly with his brother...probably why Giovanni is shy. He would never have hit you that hard on purpose, he was not a bad kid."

"I know that, mentor, he was protecting Giovanni and he was quick to help me. I am just sorry I could not save him, I wish I had seen the bastards that threw that bomb." No one knew who was responsible for the attack, only that it was most likely someone trying to destroy the evidence Devrim had, the year he had spent collecting information and stealing those documents was for nothing. The evidence burned or at the bottom of the sea. "We will get the bastard that killed him."

00

Another two days past, Devrim trying harder and harder to get a verbal reaction from Giovanni, something more than the occasional nod and sleeping close to him at night. Every time the Turk had thought he'd gotten somewhere with his lover something happened to set them back. He had never felt so helpless before, he could not fix this, Giovanni would not let him help this! And he could not watch the lifeless doll the Italian had become. Leaving Giovanni in the library, Devrim headed up the stairs and opened the bomb making cabinet, it would distract him for now.

"You look depressed, _oğlum_," Devrim couldn't believe he did not even notice his father sat next to the cabinet at the table, fiddling with a new casing. Was he really that distracted? "It must be hard seeing him like that, especially as you have been together for so little time...you have been trying so hard with him but you look exhausted, Dev." Yusuf swore as he accidentally pricked his finger on a caltrop, "Maybe you should let someone else babysit him, you will only slow down your own recovery if you overwork yourself."

"He does not need a babysitter, he is worth every bit of trouble but..." He sighed loudly, dragging out a few ingredients, "I do not think I can...maybe I jumped into a relationship too quickly? I do not know what drew me to him, maybe the way he looked at me or just...sometimes it is nice to feel needed, right?"

"Are you saying you regret sleeping with him? Because when I walked in on you two; I saw the heartache on your face at his misery, I also saw you rolling around in agony after climbing that tower with him, are you saying you did that for your own benefit? If you regretted whatever it is you feel for him you would not spend every second with him trying to heal him."

"...Why are you always so right?"

Yusuf shrugged, "I am your father, I know you and pretty much everything else in the world. Devrim, just because something is hard does not mean you should give up...Do not leave something you want for the wrong reasons."

After those words of wisdom, Yusuf was called away and Devrim worked silently for a few hours, making enough to restock his little brothers and maybe a few spare. He knew he wanted Giovanni, the man with the sweetest smile and the brightest eyes, the man who cared for him the whole time he was ill and who lit up passionately as they shared their bodies. Ezio had said Giovanni would get better, Devrim just had to hold onto that...breaking apart because Giovanni was sad wasn't the right reason to leave. Hearing the stair's creak behind him, Devrim turned and almost dropped the bomb he was holding, "Gigi? What are you doing here?"

"Leading me to you." Behind the Italian was a very old acquaintance. "Your father is unavailable and this...alluringly quiet, little thing, has led me to you," the new assassin let the backs of his fingers brush against Giovanni's jaw, smiling as the Italian jerked his face away and Devrim stood suddenly, the stool he had been sitting on clattering to the floor.

"Keep your fucking hands off him, Irem. You should not even be in this district!" Giovanni looked perturbed, stepping closer to Devrim and wondering if he had been wrong to let this man follow him. "My father told you not to come back here."

The man shrugged, "I was sent by a lieutenant, your father will just have to like it." His brown eyes looked Giovanni up and down, a smug grin working its way on his face, "Are you worried I will upset your little boyfriend? Or are you still broken hearted because I fucked you and left – you just were not as good as I had hoped. How do you find him?" The question was directed at the Italian but Devrim bristled sharply.

"I apologise I was such a bad lay, Irem," Devrim put his hand over his heart and bowed slightly, "I was a silly, little sixteen year old boy who was too stupid to know when he was being taken advantage of. I am also sorry that my father beat the living day lights out of you because you were one 'no' away from rape. Now kindly fuck off and die." He made to walk by the man, sick of the sight of his first lover, only Irem grabbed his upper arm, "Get off me."

"I do not think I will." Devrim was certain the man would have said more, something that would hurt him but the assassin was yanked away violently, the hand that had been n Devrim's arm was grabbed and twisted awkwardly until it cracked. Giovanni ignored the pained yell as he shoved his victim down on the cabinet's table, the newly made bombs wobbling from the force.

0

"Ezio."

"I know, Yusuf, I know."

"He broke his arm, broke all five fingers and his elbow. I am certain that Irem deserved it but I can not let this slide, Ezio." The Ottoman Mentor rubbed his face in frustration, "I need to know I can trust your son, I can not have him here if he is unstable...my novices are here, my children are here."

"Giovanni would not hurt any of them!" Devrim piped up, "Irem was trying to get a reaction out of us, he grabbed me and Giovanni restrained him, it was a provoked attack!"

Yusuf held a hand up to silence the younger man, "Giovanni broke his fingers, that is not restraining, that is intent to cause suffering and I can not allow it."

Ezio then spoke up, his head in his hands as he tried to find a solution, "He has never done anything like this before, I can only put it down to him losing Matteo, seeing his brother's body like that has skewered his perception – Devrim is his only friend in a strange country and maybe he was frightened of someone else close to him getting hurt." Giovanni was sat at the desk in the library, Ezio knew the boy was listening to the three of them argue over what to do with him, "I will abide by your decisions, Yusuf, this is your brotherhood but please consider what he has been through."

Devrim grabbed his father's hand in both his and squeezed gently, knowing that Ezio's Turkish was not the best and that if he spoke fast enough his words would go over the man's head, "It was mostly my fault, if I had not become so hostile with Irem, if I had not foolishly bought up what Irem had done to earn my hate then this would not have happened. Giovanni was protecting me as I would have him...you would have done the same if it was mother. I am begging you, Baba, "He rested his forehead against his father's hand, still holding on desperately as he dropped to his knees, "Begging you on my knees to please not send him away or punish him severely – I will take the blame, I will take any punishment you see fit...please, Baba, please."

What was he supposed to do? Irem was demanding blood for the injury, however he did not want to punish the young Auditore knowing that he was not in his right mind, that he was protecting his son...that his son was on his knees begging. Devrim had never begged for anything in his life and it was painful to see. "...If something like this happens again then I will be forced to make him leave, I can understand why he did this, I can understand that he is acting on instinct as all reasonable thought seems to have left him...he needs to get some semblance of self control, I will explain to my lieutenant that Giovanni is grieving and that Irem was behaving inappropriately. I can only hope that will smooth things over." He considered Giovanni for a long moment and spoke up, "I want all of your weapons, you are not to carry any in this district until I can trust you again...Do you understand, Giovanni?"

Giovanni nodded, immediately removing his bracers, his daggers, sword, boot knives anything that was part of his arsenal went onto the table without hesitation. Willing to do anything Yusuf asked of him without question, he wanted to open his mouth and say he was sorry over and over, he wanted to make Devrim get up off the floor and he wanted his father not to look so conflicted. He couldn't though, so he sat silently.

00

Devrim watched Giovanni sit in front of his twin's grave with a horrid twist in his gut. Reminding himself that it was for the best, that he had done this for the right reasons and that he was not a terrible human being. Even as tears distorted his vision and silent sobs racked his body – he did it for the right reasons!

"_Gio?" They had returned to Devrim's room after Giovanni had given up his weapons, both their fathers seemed disturbed by that night's events and both had left the two alone, perhaps to smooth over the mess or reflect on where they went wrong with their children. No sooner had the bedroom shut that Giovanni put his hands on the Turk's face and kissed him. It was hollow, devoid of any fire and Devrim was certain it tasted sad. And then his fingers were undoing clothing, feeling warm skin as he simulated what had usually been an alluring start to foreplay. "I...I can not do this, Gigi." He tried to hold onto the wandering hands, tried to turn away from the kisses, "Please, stop..."_

_The Italian wasn't listening, he walked them to the bed, sitting down on it and pulling Devrim down over him. Mouth systematically leaving marks on a dark neck, undoing his own clothing, "Giovanni I can not do this to you, you are not thinking properly...you are not even hard."_

"_It does not matter..." Devrim's eyes widened at the whisper, "You can still take me; I do not mind..."_

_Devrim shivered in repulsion, dead, golden eyes stared up at him with so much pain he couldn't stand it. "No." He pulled away, untangling himself from the Italian and backing towards the door, "I am sorry, I can not be your...I do not know, your replacement? I can not let you degrade yourself just to feel like you are complete again. I...I am not what you need and I..." He wasn't giving up on this man but he had to, if he played along then Giovanni would become dependant on him and maybe never get better. Would become more protective and dangerous unless he distanced himself. His father said to never give something up for the wrong reasons – he had to do this for all the right ones. "I do not need you any more. We can not be lovers any more because...I...have no interest – you are too broken for me."_

He had not meant any of it, he would watch over Giovanni from afar but he could not become the man's crutch. And as the Italian sat in front of the grave like a statue, tears silently falling, looking every bit like a child who was lost, Devrim had to tell himself again that this was for Giovanni's own good. But what was to stop him from finding someone else to latch onto? He did not want to watch the other crash and burn.

Turning away and letting his feet lead him to his father's door, Devrim knocked and entered with his head hung low, "I want to return to Cyprus."

00

Ezio had taken Giovanni with him to Sofia's bookshop, after the fiasco the week before he had decided to keep an eye on his son, especially as Devrim seemed to have abandoned him. When he entered Sofia greeted him with her usual smile, "Ezio, I have not seen you for weeks – I finished the translations although I have had a very big distraction lately. And who is this?"

"This is my son." Ezio watched as the boy drifted to some of the shelves, seemingly ignoring them, "Forgive him, Sofia...He is not himself, he has not spoken to anyone in the last few weeks...he had a shock." He pulled his hood down and with a strained smile, shrugged. "He sees and hears you but at the same time...does not? You can speak to him but he will not reply verbally."

She nodded slightly, eyeing the hooded figure with great interest as Ezio explained away what she had thought was rudeness, "Was he on that ship, the one that exploded?" Ezio nodded, "I see, it was a guess but the timing of his silence and that accident coincide...I did not know you had children...does his mother know he is alive?" Did that mean he had a wife stashed away? If he was flirting with her and leading her on she would make him eat the books she had translated for him.

"Giovanni's mother died when he was seven...he lost his brother on that ship."

"Oh Ezio! I am so sorry, no wonder you have not been by!" Without thinking she hugged the man tight, drawing back she stroked his cheek gently, looking at the figure browsing her books, "Poor boy must be devastated...sit down, Ezio, I will make tea and you can go through the books." She let him go and gathered a few things scattered on her desk before turning to the younger man, "Would you like something, Giovanni?" she spoke to him softly, like she would with a small child. Giovanni turned his head and as if finally realising there was a lady present, pulled his hood back to his shoulders, nodding at her question. "_Dio_..." Sofia dropped everything in her arms and stared slack jawed at him, "You..." Looking from Giovanni to Ezio and to the doorway leading to a private room, Sofia could not control her mouth from making goldfish like movements.

Ezio stood from his chair and took hold of her shoulders, "What is it, Sofia? What is wrong?"

=]


	12. Chapter 12

It took a while before Ezio was able to get Sofia to make sense but once he'd broken through her initial surprise, she grabbed his hand and led him into the back room, "I told you I had a distraction, after that ship went down I was carrying a small delivery back to the shop and I came across him," She moved a curtain aside and let Ezio through, "He has not long fallen asleep, the drugs are quite strong so do not worry if he does not respond."

Ezio approached the makeshift bed in the corner, usually this room was for people who wanted to study quietly, it had been turned into a little infirmary for the figure laying still before him, "I...how did you get him here?" He sat heavily on the stool next to the bed, wanting to touch the man on the bed but unsure how, "Is there anywhere I can touch him that does not look painful?" It was Matteo, under the bruising, swelling and redness of burns, that was his son. Matteo was covered to his neck in a white sheet, the right side of his face was black and blue, his hair cut choppily short, "He is going to be furious when he sees his hair..." That was the smartest thing he could come up with?

"It had been burned, if he wants to make a complaint I will shave his eyebrows too." She stood beside the man and quietly observed him, "The other side of his face is relatively uninjured, so you can touch there, most of his left side is uninjured. Most of it is bruising, some burns that will heal without trace and some that will scar...his right arm is probably the worst of it." Ezio peeled the sheet away carefully, Matteo's arm was resting across his chest, bandaged heavily from elbow to his entire hand, "How bad is the damage?"

"I do not know, a doctor comes to treat him, all I know is that he lost a finger..." A noise behind them made the woman jump, forgetting her guest completely, "Should he see this, Ezio?"

"_Si_," He called Giovanni to him and sat the boy down on the stool after vacating it, "You are not alone any more – not that you ever were." Giovanni leaned close to his twin, fingers brushing so lightly over the left side of his brother's face that he may as well not be touching, "Sofia, you..." The assassin hugged her to him, unable to express his thanks in words that would convey how truly grateful he was. This woman had taken a complete stranger into her home, nursed them, paid for treatment and practically saved their life, somehow he would make it up to her, "Thank you, we thought he was dead, we buried what we thought was his body..."

Sofia hugged him back and pulled away before she wanted to melt in his arms, "I was hardly going to leave him to die – only...Ezio there is one more thing." She waited for his complete attention, a little apprehensive about her next words, "He...He was blinded, the doctor says it may me temporary, he does not understand that yet, when he is awake he is very confused and in too much pain to take anything in really. You probably want to take him home with you and I have to ask you to leave him here – you are welcome to see him, whenever you like! Just let him stay here until he is a little better."

Blind? Matteo was blind...it may be temporary though, he might get his sight back...maybe. "It is best he stays, Giovanni will probably refuse to leave, it might take some convincing to make him leave Matteo's side."

"Matteo? Is that his name? I have been calling him _bambino_ for the last few weeks because he could not tell me." Glancing at the other man beside his brother, Sofia smiled a little, "I would not tear them apart, he can stay as long as he likes; besides the help would be appreciated. You might...want to take your son's belongings though...you know, his entire arsenal of weaponry, the interesting bits in his pockets and the armour. I will not ask."

"And I will not answer." He said, internally groaning at the things she had found, "Wait, he was wearing armour?"

"Under his clothing, it probably saved his life."

"Under...why was he...never mind, he is alive and he better stay that way, I will reimburse you for the doctor and supplies, Sofia."

Rolling her eyes, the red head gave him a sour look, "No you will not. You can pay for his treatment starting from now but I will not take anything from you – _Capito_?" She thought Ezio would argue but a rogue grin crossed his scarred lips, reminding her of a wolf in a chicken den, he was planning something, even as he agreed to her terms she just knew he was up to something!

00

After meeting the doctor and giving his own 'special' advice, Ezio returned to the Gelata hide out, his arms full of Matteo's belongings and feeling lighter than he had in a long time. "What is all that? Have you mugged a grandmother?" Yusuf abandoned his letter reading to poke through the things Ezio had dumped on a table, "This armour is no more than scrap, I think the merchant ripped you off, my friend."

He batted the man's hand away from the things, "You are such a child, they are Matteo's...he...is alive."

"...I thought we buried him..."

"We buried the thief that stole Matteo's ring from his unconscious body."

Yusuf threw his arms up excitedly, "This is wonderful news! I am guessing Giovanni is with him as he is not by your side, where did you find him?" He listened as Ezio explained where he had found his so, he listed the injuries sustained and the treatment that was needed. They made plans for Matteo to have a guard on watch until he was ready to be moved, no one seemed to know the assassin was there but it never hurt to be careful. "You Auditores will just not die!" He laughed at the amused shrug from the man and suddenly noticed a figure by the door, "Devrim! Excellent news; Matteo survived having his arse blown off!"

"What?" He had originally come in to ask his father a question but that knocked it from his head, "Matteo is alive? Where is he? Is he alright? Does Giovanni know?"

"He is alive, he is a Sofia's bookshop and he is...injured." Ezio supplied quickly, "He can not be moved yet and Giovanni is going to stay with him, I am sure extra help would be gladly received." That was the most subtle way he had of saying, 'I do not know why you are not talking to my son any more but go and make up before I stab you in the foot'. "It may do Matteo some good to hear familiar voices."

Devrim squirmed a little, wanting to see the man but he had been so carefully avoiding Giovanni, "I might do that. First though, whilst I remember Baba; have you organised a ship for Cyprus?"

"Nope." Yusuf replied nonchalantly, "And I am not going to – you want to go and nurse your broken heart, you organise it." And that was all he would say on the matter. Devrim wanted to go back to Cyprus to regather evidence, apparently, though Yusuf knew he just wanted to get away from Giovanni, that for some strange reason his son was doing everything within his power to pretend the Italian did not exist even though it was making him miserable. "How do you even fight with someone who does not speak?"

"I am not having this conversation in front of him!" Devrim hissed quickly in their language, Ezio still wrapping his head around the language would have trouble understanding, "You can not beat up every man who has ever wronged me and you can not tell me who I can or can not see! With or without your help I am getting on a ship." He stalked out of the room, muttering about his father the entire way and slamming the door shut behind him.

The Ottoman assassin sighed heavily and shook his head, he thought a teenage daughter was hard? Devrim in a childish tizzy was worse than any tantrum Ece could pull off. "And he is my most mature child."

Ezio smiled at his friend, knowing exactly what he was thinking about his oldest child and knowing he had done the same many times before, "We have spoiled them, we had to grow up so quickly to survive, both of us with heavy burdens before we were even eighteen. You can not say that our protection and want for our children to grow up happy has not made them into brats. They are still children and they do not learn as fast as we did. When are you going to tell Devrim that my understanding of your language has improved? He still thinks I have no idea what he is saying." Just because he couldn't reply quickly did not mean that Ezio wasn't a quick translator. "Is he angry with Giovanni because he broke Iram's arm? I was under the impression that Devrim disliked the man...but they are lovers?"

"...No..." How the fuck did Ezio mistake Devrim's heartbreak to be for Iram when he was blatantly and obviously pining after Giovanni, "Sometimes you are really slow."

"Leonardo used to say that to me." He said and his eyebrows creased as he tried to figure it out, "Devrim and Iram are not lovers? ...I do not get it."

Yusuf face palmed himself, "Seriously, you should be put in a home for old people." Even Yusuf's daughter had asked if Devrim and Giovanni were going to get married! "Iram hardly waited one day before pursuing Devrim after he had turned sixteen. That bastard acted like the most perfect partner anyone could ever hope for, made Dev fall so absolutely in love with him that he would agree to anything, fucked him and dropped him faster than a hot coal. Giovanni probably broke Iram's arm because it was brought up that Devrim's consent was very dubious – no one likes to hear that about someone they care for...get it?"

"So, Giovanni was defending Devrim's honour...they are good friends after all...wait..." Ezio thought it over for a long moment, Yusuf watching carefully as all the pieces clicked together, "Devrim is angry at Giovanni because Devrim does not need defending and it hurt his pride."

The Turk's face dropped, "You really do not get it!" He was sorely tempted to write their son's names and draw a heart around them.

00

**Sofia's Shop**

Giovanni watched with building excitement as gold eyes fluttered open, he waited for recognition to flit across them, a smile to be flashed at him and maybe a sarcastic hello – Matteo's eyes did not even budge from the ceiling. Was he still upset because Giovanni had been angry at him? Squeezing his brother's left hand only succeeded in making him jolt, a pained sound leaving his brother and summoning Sofia to check on them, "It is alright, _Bambino_," Matteo calmed a little at the woman's voice, he knew she was safe, he knew the doctor's smell, the herbs the man used were always strong, he did not know who was holding his hand. "He can not see you, you need to talk to him." She encouraged Giovanni gently, when he looked at her helplessly she sighed, so much for getting the silent boy to say anything, "Matteo, it is your brother."

"G-gi...vanni?" Feeling a firm squeeze on his hand confirmed it and he grinned widely, his face hurting as he did so but he was so pleased, "You got out? D-did Dev...rim, did he...he..." His hand was lifted to a firm cheek and he felt a nod, "_Bene_, did you...hurt..." He took a painful breath in, wincing as everything ached, "Your voice?" A shake against his hand.

"Your father said he has not spoken since he thought you were dead." She quickly got to work on fetching together the creams and salves Matteo would need, he would need food before she could give him something for the pain – she hadn't done that yet! Too distracted by work and Ezio and everything! "Giovanni, you know what these are for, can you help your brother while I make some food?" He took the jars from her, smelling one of them and seemingly knowing what it was for, giving her a nod he pulled the sheet from his brother and began applying it to the burns.

Matteo hissed with every little touch, it had been worse in the beginning where every touch was pure agony, "Is my face ruined?" A nod on his hand made him smile a little, "Brutal...it will mend, right?" Another nod, "I am glad...all I got...going for me." Nod. "You fucker! Do not agree, ass. What about...the rest of me?"

Giovanni treated the more severe burns on his brother's shoulder and part of his chest. If Matteo had not been wearing his chest plate, if he had not been messing around with Devrim's mask...he would be dead, he would have been blown apart. "I think you will heal." Giovanni winced as he heard Devrim's voice, "A few manly scars for the ladies to fawn over...I can not believe you are in one piece."

"Ladies love scars...I can not feel my arm...or my fingers." That bothered him the most, it was the only thing that didn't hurt. "Are they s-still..."

"They are still attached, my friend." Devrim patted the man's leg, unsure where else to touch with how raw every inch of skin looked, "Sofia said you get better everyday, you will heal and be as you were – though hopefully not as stupid." He bantered back and forth, trying to distract him from the pain he was no doubt in and all the while watching Giovanni. Why hadn't the younger twin said anything? If Matteo asked him anything Giovanni would pick up his brother's hand and nod or shake his head, there were a few other ways they communicated, something that was purely theirs. Somehow Devrim did not think they would have problems communicating if Matteo's blindness and Giovanni's voice never returned. "I can not get my head around this...how did you get out?"

00

**Gelata HQ**

Laying out what remained of his son's uniform, Ezio couldn't help but feel his gut churning, the outer robes, once pure white with gold and red trim, were torn and burnt. Fire had eaten through the expensive, Italian tailoring, the right sleeve was missing completely, threads from the seam at the the shoulder seemed to have been ripped off. The chest area was either burned through or scorched, the hood in similar condition...

_Matteo could feel his skin burning, though he was dazed and his sight nothing more than white light – he knew he was on fire. He tore at his robe, ripping the clasps apart as he tried to free himself from the burning fabric, his nose filled with the smell of burning skin and hair._

Next he examined the chest armour, it was old, Ezio knew Matteo had something heavier at home but he had chosen the lighter one, Giovanni had left his completely. Carrying pauldrons, greaves and chest pieces around would have caused too much suspicion and the boys had left it behind. This was compact enough to go under clothing as protection but it was not bullet proof and it got hot very quickly – as much as it had saved Matteo's life, it had probably hurt him more. He picked at the fibres of material melted to the engravings, he needed to get these decommissioned or the robes made from something more fire resistant.

_He tried to get out of his clothing but the right side was stuck fast to his armour, in his struggles he fell, cold, sea water covered him and he scrambled for something to grab. The cabin was filling with water, they were sinking! His only relief was that he wasn't burning any more, "Hello?" Matteo heard the voice and turned, "You are alive?" _

_The voice came a little closer and Matteo reached out with his hand, "Help me! I...I can not see and I - " The person grabbed his hand and he nearly cried with relief, "Thank you!"_

"_Do not thank me, there is no way you will survive," The Italian felt his ring slipped from his finger and then the stranger let him go, "The ship is turned on its side, you will at least drown quickly – I will not make it if I take you with me."_

"_Bastardo!" But was he really that injured? Fuck...where was his brother?_

Ezio put Matteo's things down, each piece telling him a horrific story, "When the twins were born I promised never to let harm come to them." He knew the Ottoman mentor had snuck in to collect a few things, he'd been trying to give Ezio time to himself and apparently the old man was pretty good at detecting people, "I was always careful when I was with them, they did not even know what their Papa did...and when my back was turned they were attacked by nobodies and Giovanni's throat was cut. Carlotta was killed. And years later, after training those boys until they collapsed from exhaustion I nearly lose Matteo too. Sometimes I think fate hates me and others..." He picked up a small tube amongst the clothing, "They both have survived impossible odds – maybe they are lucky in some way?"

"Ezio...that tube..."

_Matteo felt suction from the water pulling him under again, maybe there was a hole in the ship or...there had been that secret compartment! That lead to an escape hatch, they had explored it thoroughly after they had settled in. He took in a deep breath and let himself be pulled with the water, his fingers finding the frame of the doorway, skimming what he recognised as Devrim's evidence._

00

**Sofia's shop**

"At some point I came up into fresh air...holding onto a piece of wood for all I was worth." As for how he ended up on dry land and then into Sofia's shop he had no idea. "I thought I had that tube...I...I do not remember if...if I had it." Matteo's memory left much to be desired and he was really starting to hurt now, "I probably ended up here naked."

A little laugh answered him, the smell of food assaulting his nose, "If you had been naked in that street, I would have left you out in the cold." Sofia let Devrim take a few of the plates she was balancing, handing two to Giovanni with specific instructions that Matteo would eat the carrots or she would make him. She then took her own plate back from the Turk and smiled at his cheeks that were puffed out with food like a rodent, "Have you not learned to chew yet? One day you will choke and I will let you." they ate quietly for a while, the occasional complaint from Matteo as his twin shoved one of the offending carrots into his mouth, Sofia spoke quietly with Devrim about his travels, reminding him he had one of her books and watching as he tried to explain that it was somewhere safe – so safe he had no idea where it was. "This tube you were talking about, did it have a gold band around its middle? It was a scroll protector?"

"_Evet_, It had some very important documents inside, you have seen it?" Devrim asked quickly, his food long gone – having four brothers and a constantly hungry father had taught him to eat his food quickly if there was any chance for seconds, the habit stuck.

"I gave it to Ezio with Matteo's...things. Very pointy, stabby things..." Each man shrugged at what she was getting at, having no idea what she was talking about and that they must have accidentally gotten attached to Matteo. Somehow with their matching clothing, armour and the fact that Devrim's reading mostly consisted of bomb crafting, pressure points on the human body and how to dispose of a body, these boys were not scholars as Ezio himself claimed to be. "I will find out, if I have to beat it out of Ezio I will."

Matteo smiled at her, "I bet Padre would love for you to beat him." Giovanni tried to hide a grin behind his hand; he had seen the way his father went into flirt mode the second he saw the woman. Maybe his father would think about settling down? Sofia seemed nice and she was fiery, his father just loved a challenge.

"...Your father is..." She was blushing and she knew all three of them were enjoying it, "A very interesting person."

"The most interesting man you will ever meet." Matteo smirked.

"That is what he said to me when we met..." Both Giovanni and Matteo nodded to themselves, mischievous little smiles on their faces – what was she missing? "A-Anyway!" She gave Giovanni a syringe and bottle, glad she didn't have to fiddle with them any more, she had caused more bruises in the crook of Matteo's elbow than he needed, "That means you will not have to leave for Cyprus, Devrim, that tube was the reason you were asking for ship manifestos, _si_?"

Devrim blinked slowly as he thought about that. He had no valid reason to leave Constantinople, he had found a ship leaving the day after tomorrow...his father was a hard man to pin down though. Maybe he could pretend to not know his father had received the information and get on the ship anyway...by the time they told him he didn't need to go it would be too late. "I have things to do in Cyprus, left some things undone, let us not talk about that, we have celebrations to be had – Matteo is alive and I plan to get drunk on his behalf."

"Your ship leaves early a day from now, you have things to arrange instead of getting drunk and you need to find my book!" Sofia poked him in the chest, too busy chastising him to notice his eyes watching the way Giovanni's body tensed, very nearly dropping the syringe as he pushed the plunger; the wince from Matteo was probably from the hand squeezing his hand as opposed to the needle. He watched the older twin's lips move, 'What is wrong?' his hand squeezing back as he sensed his brother's distress, untangling their fingers he stroked Giovanni's face and that was when the younger man stood suddenly and walked out of the room in a hurry, "Giovanni?" Sofia chased after him.

"You are leaving?" Matteo asked, his voice making it sound like an accusation, "You have not said a word to my brother since you arrived, he grabbed my hand the second you arrived...when he is sad, he entwines his fingers with mine, he only did that when you came. You sat far from him too...and you are leaving – did you even tell him? I am guessing not as he left here crying, at least his face was wet..."

The Turk sighed, "I had to break things off, he thought you were dead and he was unpredictable...he just wanted something to help him stop hurting and I refused to become his crutch – I was not going to take advantage of him whilst he was like that...he nearly killed a man because they threatened me, he crippled him! What am I supposed to do?"

"Tell him he was being a needy little bitch and you did not want to hurt him – not runaway! He probably does not...not know...fuck." The Italian's head slumped back on the pillow, the drugs forcing him to sleep, "Just let him...explain...himself before you..."

Devrim covered the man with the sheet, rearranging the pillows so he would be comfortable and left the sleeping man to his rest, "You Italians are so high maintenance, I never know if I am up or down with you guys." He made his way to the main shop area and saw Sofia frowning to herself, she couldn't understand where Giovanni had run off to or why, he patted her shoulder with an apologetic look, "I did not tell him I was leaving...he is probably just mad at me. Please look after them – all the Auditores."

00

**Docks **

Staring at his home from the deck of the cargo ship, Devrim carefully avoided the disappointed, grey eyes of his father, he was stood on a rooftop across from him, arms folded as if that alone would convey his feelings. Devrim had succeeded in avoiding the man, pretending he did not know about the documents being found, the fact that his father was holding the tube made it clear Yusuf knew what he had done. As the ship began moving, Yusuf sent him a sudden smug look – then he was gone. What had that been about? Devrim huffed in annoyance and turned his back on his country...on Giovanni.

When he walked into his little cabin, he paused; the writing table had been cleared of its previous contents, a bomb casing sat on it – the same one he had seen before it had gone off in Matteo's face. Before he could act a rope flashed in front of his arms before it was firmly around his neck and his attacker was choking him. He clawed at the rope, the edges of his vision darkening as he wondered how he had ended up alone and in this situation.


	13. Chapter 13

Devrim found himself shoved face first into a wall, the rope forgotten around his neck but everything was hazy, making it easy for his attacker to pin him there and there was nothing he could do. A gloved hand twisted into his hair, pulling his head back at an awkward angle and a pair of lips were against his ear, "And you told me you liked to be choked..."

"Giovanni?" Devrim gasped out as he recognised the voice – What was he doing? Was this the youngest Auditore finally snapping or did he really take break ups this personally? "What are you doing?"

Giovanni nipped the man's ear, enjoying the sharp intake of breath before answering, "You did not give me a chance to speak to you...it kind of pissed me off."

"You were not really talking to anyone, so – agh! Seriously!" Hair pulling; he hated it with a passion. This was why he tied it back, to stop people grabbing it and pulling.

The Italian dug his elbow a little deeper into Devrim's back, "Stop talking! Just stop talking before I lose my courage." Devrim said nothing, apparently interested in what was to be said then even struggling – a relief to the Italian as the man was stronger than him and recovered quickly. "I went a little mad, I hardly knew what I was doing and thought that I simply needed a new half if Matteo was dead, that was you. I just thought that if I could keep you happy, make you want me by your side all the time...I would not be alone, I would not notice that half of me was in the ground. If it had not been for my brother all those years ago I do not think I would have ever tried to live again. I was frightened and I did all the wrong things. I am sorry."

"...You did not need to make me want you, Gigi, I was already by your side you just...it was like you were not even in your body – I was not going to let you debase yourself so that you could forget your pain for a little while...it broke my heart to push you away."

"And you did the right thing, like you always seem to do the right thing." He considered letting the man free from the wall but hesitated, "Do you forgive me? Are you going to stop being a twat and come back with me?"

Devrim laughed, "Says the needy bitch..." He tried to get one of his arms back, Giovanni grabbed his little finger and pulled it back a little until he stopped, "Cheater. I forgive you for being the biggest ass in a herd of ass'...I can not forgive you for what you did to Iram..."

"I...understand." Giovanni let him go and stepped away, watching as Devrim rolled his shoulders and neck from the aches, the man retied his hair and it looked like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, "I am not sorry I hurt him, he wronged you and then rubbed it in your face...men like him deserve everything they get."

The Turk half smiled, "Everyone makes it sound so much worse than it was – I was a dumb kid who thought he was in love and I let him take advantage of me, I never said 'no' and he never asked," He stepped closer and tapped the side of Giovanni's chin, "I will not forgive you for it because secretly, behind the horror and trying to stop you snapping his fingers – I was squealing like a girl who had just been given a pink pony and a prince to go with it." They looked at each other and for what felt like the first time in years; smiled at one another. "Hey...remember what I said about pulling my hair?"

"..." Giovanni opened his mouth as his mind tried to remember what had been said, his gold eyes widening as he was tackled against the wall. _'If you pull my hair again I will turn you over and fuck you so hard you will be unable to sit down for a week.' _He vaguely remembered that threat, "Y-you would not dare...we need to get off the ship before we are too far out."

Devrim's smile turned devilish as he sealed their mouths together, his thoughts turning to how this was probably their best kiss yet and how he never wanted to see those dead gold eyes again. All he had to do was make sure Giovanni's family and friends stayed alive – thank god that list was short! Giovanni melted against him, arms winding around his neck as he opened his mouth to Devrim's inquisitive tongue, a pleased sigh escaping him and his entire body was pressed against the Turk's. Devrim liked how submissive his lover was, it was not the kind of resigned submission that was shown weeks ago but something that said, 'I am yours – for now.' "Gigi," the Italian hummed quietly as he rained kisses along the man's jaw and back to his mouth, almost like he was making up for lost time in kisses, "We have..." His hands drifted to the slighter man's waist, "Plenty of time." And pushed him over the small writing desk, both staring at the bomb as it wobbled from the force of Giovanni being bent over the furniture. "Is that...live?"

"Just a casing...I hope." The casing was thrown onto the bed in the corner, out of the way, just in case. "We do not have time, Devrim," Giovanni made to get up but a firm shove and an open palm pressing him down stopped him.

"We will make time," Gathering the other's hands and pinning them above the Italian's head by the wrists, Devrim ground himself against...wait, "How the hell did you get these leather monstrosities back?" Everything Giovanni had owned sunk with the ship, he had been borrowing Devrim's clothing and no where in Istanbul would sell these.

Pushing his backside against the Turk, Giovanni grinned at him from over his shoulder, "They are the only thing that were not destroyed on Matteo's person, I always thought they looked better on me." Devrim bit his lip as he stared at what was practically a second skin on the man, covering a fine arse and leaving little to the imagination, "You could...take them off if they offend you so." He shivered and remembered how easily Giovanni got him hot. He had to release the other's wrist to undo the ties on the side of the trousers, it wasn't that he hated them, they looked good on his Italian but they were such an annoyance to remove. Without his hands to keep Giovanni down, the man turned and pressed into him, hands wandering everywhere, groping the Turk's arse and rubbing their crotches together as Devrim fought with loosening the trousers enough to get them off. "You love the struggle, admit it~"

"You know what," Devrim said as he grabbed the man's shoulders and forced him to his knees, "I love it more when your mouth is too occupied to be smart." He watched Giovanni's face nuzzle against his groin, mouthing at the outline of his hard on like he knew what it would do to him. "F-fuck...I take back every time I have said you were not sexy." Giovanni rubbed him through his clothing, seeming to enjoy the throaty moans he was pulling from him, Devrim unlaced his trousers quickly, taking himself in hand he offered his length to the Italian, "I thought you wanted to be quick?"

Giovanni rolled his eyes, leaning forward to take the hard cock so close to his face, Devrim seemed to have different ideas though, "Wet your lips first...good, now make sure your teeth stay out of the way." Devrim pushed himself into the willing mouth, groaning appreciatively when Giovanni hummed his pleasure, the vibration making the Turk's toes curl, "D-do not need to teach you that one..."

Giovanni pulled back, "I am a quick study," He gave a broad lick from base to tip, his hand fondling Devrim's balls, a teasing finger rubbing just behind to make the man squirm and whine, his other hand stroked up and down the hard shaft as he spoke, "Just try not to come too soon." He sank down on Devrim until his nose was buried in fine, black hairs at the bas of his cock, moaning loudly as he did so, loving the way ten digits dug into his scalp when he swallowed around the head. Coming off with an audible pop, the Italian used the tip of his tongue to slide through the dribble of come threatening to spill over, "We really do not have time, how about you let me make you come in my mouth and we get off this boat, you can have me when we get back to dry land. I can swallow every last drop you give me, milk you dry so you can fuck me long and hard later...what do you think?" Devrim didn't answer verbally, instead he pulled Giovanni forward, wanting to watch those swollen lips wrap around him as he fucked the willing mouth. If he was feeling considerate he would let Giovanni untie his own laces and stroke himself, he wouldn't pull on brunette hair as he controlled the bobbing and depth that he was taken. But he wasn't feeling considerate with the liquid heat swallowing him so eagerly and moaning so prettily – he wanted to come deep in the Italian's mouth and feel his swallow his release down or...or he wanted to ruin that handsome face...

Devrim's knees nearly buckled as Giovanni's head made a little twist side to side with his bobbing, fuck, that would short out his brain for a good hour! He rocked his hips into the other's mouth, the sensation of his balls being fondled and the attention to his cock was quickly undoing him. Giovanni swatted the hands guiding his movements away, his mouth was next to be removed, stroking the rigid length with his right hand as he sucked hard between the root of Devrim's cock and his balls, giving them every bit of attention he had given the shaft, "..._Lütfen ben neredeyse_...Gigi!" The Italian straightened himself up, opening his mouth and extending his tongue, his hand never stopping as he brought Devrim over the edge. Silver eyes struggled to stay open and watch a pink tongue striped with white, it drew slowly back into Giovanni's mouth and he leaned forward to take the Turk's length once more. "...How...where did you learn to do that..." Devrim panted.

Giovanni laughed and stood up, dressing the Turk as if nothing had happened, "I read a lot of books. We need to get moving, I am not rowing all day to get on land and you owe me for that." He was so hard, the trousers tighter than was comfortable against his erection that it nearly hurt, "You will come back with me, right?"

Devrim nodded tiredly, he was content and wanted to curl up and sleep, he wanted to cuddle the other until those sad eyes went away, "...Of course...but no more crazy – at least for a few months."

Putting his hand over his heart, Giovanni's expression turned serious, "I, Giovanni Petruccio Auditore da Venezia, hereby swear not to have any form of mental breakdown...for at least a couple of weeks."

The older man tried to hide a smirk, failing miserably he burst out laughing, the offended look making him crack up more, "Sorry, but what you said and your raging hard on and the semen on your face do not go well together." He took hold of Giovanni's chin and turned his face to the left, leaning forward and licking the last of his release from the corner of the man's lips. "Ugh..."

The Italian nodded in agreement, "You taste horrible..."

"You are so romantic."

00

**Sofia's Shop**

Matteo heard two people tumble into his room, or the room, he'd been here so long it might as well be his, he heard Sofia scold whoever it was and tell them that they needed to quiet down. "Matteo, my dear friend, how are you?"

"Devrim...I thought you had..."

"Are you really using my own brother to cock block me?" Giovanni huffed irritably as he sat by his brother's side, the Turk kneeling beside him, head resting on a tense thigh and grinning like a fool, "You are..."

"Giovanni?" Matteo was surprised to hear his brother's voice again, disturbed that it had been a sexual reference and that Devrim's entire being screamed 'satisfied'. "You got your voice back? And apparently your boyfriend too...as much as I love you...I am really tired and the Dottore will be here shortly." He was pleased the two had made up but some days he wanted the world to go away.

A short man shuffled into the room, Sofia behind the old man carrying what appeared to be a large medical bag and a solemn look on her face. The doctor wasted no time in unwrapping the bandages around Matteo's left arm, a well practised movement that belied how often the man had done this.

Giovanni stood on his toes to peer over the man's shoulder, getting an eyeful he reeled backwards into Devrim, his hand covering his mouth as he inhaled deeply, "Gigi?" He shook his head and walked out of the room, his fingers entwining with Devrim's as he dragged him along. The older man looked at their joined hands and pursed his lips – that meant Giovanni was sad, didn't it? "Is the wound bad?"

"He...would have been better off losing it." His brother was so badly burned and his hand seemed mangled to the point it was unusable, adding that with his brother complaining he couldn't feel it made the younger twin feel ill. "It is not fair," Devrim pulled him into a hug and they stayed like that until shuffling came from the other room, they broke apart just as the two walked through. Giovanni made to pass Sofia and the doctor, the woman's hand resting on his arm made him pause, "I would like to see him."

Sofia blinked in surprise, this being the first time she had ever heard him speak, "He is asleep, Giovanni, let your brother rest." She smiled encouragingly at him, "If you see your father could you ask him to come?"

"Is something wrong?" Why would she want his father, "Is Matteo alright? Is something wrong with my brother?"

The little doctor fixed him with a stare and spoke up, "His fingers are moving and the salve is healing the skin nicely, he may lose feeling in that arm and maybe his grip will be faulty. There is an infection starting on his shoulder and his eyes are unresponsive – they are not going to get better. Your father wanted to be kept up to date. The boy is not going to die...perhaps it will serve as a warning not to play with those death spheres."

00

**Gelata HQ**

The two assassin's fell against Devrim's mattress, their breaths heavy as they recovered from orgasm. Devrim felt as if he was floating, it was his lucky day today. Giovanni was just more than relieved that his earlier arousal had been dealt with. "You are very spontaneous today. Ambushing me on a ship, sucking me to within an inch of my life and then this."

"I was horny, you left me with blue balls – that is not alright." He stretched out, a little more content, "though as much as I love our mutual masturbation...I was hoping for something a little more...filling."

"That is because it is the middle of the day and..." He counted to five and as he expected, his little sister's voice rung out, "My family like to monopolise me during the day, I need to look after Ece for a few hours," Kissing the man quickly, Devrim stood up and cleaned himself off, "You should rest, you look exhausted and I plan to keep you up most of the night"

Giovanni yawned after his lover left, following his example and cleaning up. He had missed Devrim's room; it was literally a tiny little space, three foot of floor from door to bed, The bed was large and surrounded by shelves. Each shelf filled to the brim with books, clothing, trinkets, some covered with curtains of brightly coloured silks – mostly teals and blues. It is what he imagined Aladdin's cave to be like. Curling up in the sheets, Giovanni sighed deeply, this being the first time in weeks his head was clear and he could think straight. No death or fear lingering over him, his only troubles were supporting his brother should his treatment fail and plucking up enough courage to speak to his father. Ezio seemed to flinch every time Giovanni hugged him or even smiled at him, like it wasn't his child, Giovanni wanted to change that too.

His fingers drifted over his scar, flashes of memory still there on the edges of his vision and they would probably always be there. He could not dwell on the past any more, he was too old to hide behind his twin and it was too draining to keep building walls.

At some point he had closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, making him confused and groggy when he opened them again – the sound of raised voices causing him to get up quickly and step out of the room. This part of the building housed Yusuf's family, that meant it could only be a family fight. And from the sounds of it...Mentor Yusuf and...Devrim? It was strange to hear them actually yelling at one another. "How could you agree to such a thing?"

"You were going away, Dev! After the incident Giovanni caused I have to agree to something just to smooth things over – it is for two weeks, he will stay on the other side of the hide out and you two are to keep away from one another." Giovanni winced at his name, the man still had possession of his weapons because of the Italian's outburst. "Iram is staying whilst our brothers set up their defences, he is no use to them with a broken arm and he is in the way."

"Have I caused a problem?" Giovanni cut in and made his presence known, "Can I not apologise to the other Mentor? Does Iram have to come here?"

Ezio then threw in his thoughts, he wanted some peace so that he could study the golden disc he had found more thoroughly, "An apology will not cut it – just stay away from that man. Devrim is a grown man, if he has a grievance I am sure he can cope with it himself."

"...Ezio...it is not that simple." Yusuf grabbed both boys by their collars and pulled them either side of him, "If Iram so much as glances at either of these idiots a fight is likely to happen." All he had tried to do was convince Devrim to take Giovanni to a different hideout for a few weeks, they could lay low and no tension would arise between his brotherhood and the one across the water. And Ezio still did not understand why Giovanni also had to go – because he was denser than a cannonball! "Just look at these two and tell me you get it...for my sanity."

He looked at his son, who was yawning slightly, the borrowed top from the young Turk making him look smaller than he was, a host of bright bruises ran up and down his neck and shoulder and most likely continued under the cream material – he looked more relaxed than he had in days. He must have found one of the girl assassins to work his stress out with. As for Devrim, the tension of the past week or so was gone, no evidence of it in the youth's face or body...the skin visible on him was also covered in bites and various marks – what was he supposed to be seeing other than two young men getting the sex that he wasn't? "Uh...they are friends again so they will gang up on Iram?"

Giovanni watched as Yusuf physically gave up, he would not outright blurt the truth of his relationship with Devrim but the man must have thought the only way to get Ezio to let his son out of his sight was if he understood. If that bastard was coming to Gelata then Giovanni wanted him and Devrim to be as far away as possible...he also had to clear things up with his father – Everything. "Papa, I...Devrim and I...we...I never really told you that I prefer...prefer...you know how Leonardo liked...and...and..." His voice died in his throat as his father seemed more and more confused the more his son spoke. He looked over at Devrim and froze again. What if Leonardo was wrong and Ezio was angry at him? Though if his father was going to disown him it might as well be now, right? "I...am...having...uh...What I mean to say is...oh fuck it!"

Giovanni grabbed Devrim by the front of his top and yanked him forward, their mouths crashing together with an awkward chink of teeth, the Italian's eyes were squeezed so tightly shut it hurt and after a few second he pushed Devrim away and stared down at the floor – red as a tomato. "Yeah...that." He didn't dare look up, not even when he heard a dark chuckle emanating from the man.

"Oooh, that." Ezio said with great amusement, "I already knew. Ever since you had that crush on the stable hand – I was the one who asked Leo to talk to you."

Yusuf, Devrim and Giovanni stared at the man open mouthed, "You knew?"

"Of course I did. I just enjoyed winding you up."

(Short, pointless, my attempt at humour. I need to get back on plot.)


	14. Chapter 14

**Gelata 1511**

The door slammed shut behind an angry Giovanni. The man looked ready to kill the first thing that annoyed him and Devrim winced at the stormy face of his lover, "It did not go well?"

"He is an insufferable old man! Who should have retired long ago!" He yelled loud enough for Ezio to hear on the other side of the door, "He will not talk about it." They walked the short distance to Devrim's room, Giovanni falling face first into the mattress before the Turk had even closed the door, "I said I wanted to talk and he just says, 'No' without even looking up! I want to have a less awkward relationship with my father and he wants to be a complete...Aagh!"

Rubbing the other's back soothingly, Devrim smiled gently at the frustration oozing out of the assassin, "Your father is stubborn. So are you. It must be all that noble blood in your veins – commoners like me and my family like to settle things by yelling at each other. Whoever yells the loudest for the longest wins. Your family...well, you do not like to argue."

"There is a pecking order." Giovanni muttered as he rested his head on crossed arms, enjoying the hand on his back, "Grandmother told Papa what to do, Aunt Claudia tells Papa what to do and Papa tells Matteo and I what to do. We never argued with Nonna – never. My Aunt is very reasonable but Him! There is no discussion when it comes to us! It is do as I say or I will shut you down."

"Then keep talking, keep nagging at him until he has no choice but to listen...it is not as if he is deaf." What started off as a soothing motion had turned into Devrim massaging out all the tension he could find in tight muscles, "When my father used to ignore me I would follow him around, 'Baba, can I have a duck?' 'no' 'Baba, can I have a duck?' 'no'...I did this for three days until he practically broke down – My mother did not know who to console first."

"A duck?"

Devrim chuckled, "It does not matter – the point is; I kept chipping away until he listened. I did not get what I wanted but by the time I was done Baba wanted one. I find shouting gets faster results though." his knuckles pressed into the small of Giovanni's back until a contented little moan escaped, "You could start with, ' Remember when you went berserk and tore a man's head off and I was so scared I thought you were a demon, thanks for traumatising me – anyway, I completely understand,' then give him one of those enthusiastic Italian hugs."

"...That is a little blunt...I have spent the last thirteen years pretending he was not my father, for a reason I could not even remember...all I knew was that something in him frightened me. Even though he was protecting his family, I shunned him for that...nnn, right there." He arched into the heel of Devrim's palm and sighed, "I can not believe he knew I liked men...all this time and he knew – I thought Yusuf was going to throttle him!"

The Turk smiled at that, "Baba held the twins for a good ten minutes after that – they looked petrified of him but my brothers seemed to realise he was stressed. I think they were pleased it was not a random sparring match instead of forced affection." They lay side by side silently for a long while, fingers tracing each other's faces in a rare moment of peace, "We should get moving soon, I thought we could stay in the hideout near Hagia, it is not far from where Matteo is and it should be far enough away from that bastard for a few weeks. Also...I have my Master training to do...you might not see me most of the time."

"You are having your Master Assassin training already?" Devrim was only a few months older than him and already he was going to outrank him, "Wait...that means you...I am still a novice and you are an adept already? That is not even fair!"

"You are a novice? You nearly had me the other day...hmm, maybe we can get the den master to assess you whilst we are there – I am guessing your father is just being protective or your brotherhood are a little slower on promotions." He liked the pout on Giovanni's lips so much that he couldn't help kissing them before continuing, "A few years ago, if an assassin was caught or even if someone was suspected they were executed on the spot. Here, we have to learn quickly or die. I am expected to undergo this training but the chances of me passing are slim...Apparently I have all the skills I need but lack the mentality."

"I suppose Italy is not as dangerous for us and my father is a little protective. I give him good reason to worry..."

00

**Roma 1507**

_Matteo aimed his crossbow at one of the guards surrounding his father and fired with deadly accuracy, Giovanni hopped to the next rooftop and took another down. The arrow strike was later than it should have been but the four novices were pleased with the result, they each hopped down until they reached the ground, Ezio nodded at them all, "Good work...maybe a little faster next time?" _

_Matteo approached him with a rogue grin, "If we had been faster you would be full of arrows, Papa."_

_Pulling him to his side, Ezio ruffled his son's hair, "And I would deserve it for letting a sixteen year old loose with a cross bow. We need to get out of here before more trouble follows – remember to split up and I will see all of you on Tiber Island." The others nodded, "Bene." Ezio let his son go and not a moment too soon as an arrow shot between them to lodge into one of the novices. _

"_Rico!" Giovanni caught his friend as he fell back, his hands checking the man's injured shoulder quickly, "Flesh wound." He heard Matteo's name being called, when he looked up he saw his twin engaging with one of the smugglers they had missed – he just couldn't help himself! "Matteo!" _

"_Vanni!" The teenager found himself grabbed from behind and a knife on his neck, his high collar protecting him from the sharp blade. He released his hidden blade...and that was it. He couldn't move, not a single muscle in his body would listen to him as he commanded it to move; it was happening again! He needed to do something – anything! He found his brother's eyes and saw the worry in them, Matteo's hands raising in a placating manner, his way of telling Giovanni it would be alright, that everything was going to be fine and he should calm down. Ezio stepped in front of his novices, "Let him go."_

_The smuggler shook his head rapidly, "You will kill me! I...I do not know who sent you but I am not letting him go, you will kill me!" The man's hands were shaking so much that the knife had actually cut through the teenager's shirt, a tiny knick is all it took to set Giovanni off and with a rush of adrenaline his foot tangled behind his captor's and they both went to the dusty ground. Thrusting his hidden blade into the man's chest, Giovanni pulled it out quickly before attacking again, he could hear his name being called, hands winding around his middle and forcibly ripping him from the man he was savaging but all he wanted was for the smuggler to stop screaming and just die._

_Ezio pulled Giovanni up to his feet, the boy still fighting him with no sign of calming, "Jacopo, get Rico to a doctor." The novice nodded vaguely, his mouth agape and his eyes glued to his usually calm friend, "Jacopo! Now!" watching the young man scrabble to grab his injured companion Ezio turned to his other son, "Matteo, help me with your brother."_

_Matteo approached his twin and as gently as he could, avoiding getting slashed by the hidden blade tried to soothe the wild creature possessing the other, "Vanni, please calm down...come on...it is alright, he is dead – they are all dead...it is just me and Papa." Matteo hated when this happened, when Giovanni's eyes glazed over and his expression turned fearful. He was frozen in his own personal nightmare and would just fight until he thought he was safe. It was the aftermath that disturbed him most, "Shh, no one is going to hurt us...please." All the while he was unstrapping the bracer on his brother's wrist to avoid any accidental stabbings._

_Ezio's fingers brushed against the torn collar of Giovanni's shirt, the struggling had become manageable, "We need to go, bambino." Not a second later an elbow jammed into his ribs and Giovanni managed to shove him away, his eyes wild and scared as he glared at his father._

"_Do not touch me!"_

"_Giovanni..." Matteo reached his hand out for him, "It is just Papa...come on." _

_Giovanni grasped the hand offered to him, yanking his twin closer and holding onto him tightly as his anger faded into a fear that left him shivering, "It is not just him..."_

00

**Gelata 1511**

"I suppose going berserk every time something like that happened would hurt any promotions...you can control it though, you did when my sister touched you...I think you cracked the chair frame." He had picked up some of his things whilst listening to Giovanni, packing more clothes than he wanted – he was taking the Italian shopping. "Maybe...maybe your father thinks that talking about what happened will drive you away again. You said you treated him like a stranger for thirteen years and now that you are trying to reconcile...have you ever thought that Ezio might be frightened too?"

"Nothing frightens him."

Devrim shrugged, "Losing his children frightens him, his friends being put in danger frightens him...Fathers are not the fearless sentinels we think they are. My brother said that after his son was born he was scared about keeping his family safe – this was a few years ago when things were really bad here – 'but I have to be brave, even if I am pissing myself in fear I have to be brave,' When he said that I realised how hard it must be to be a parent and I was glad men can not get pregnant." Standing up he landed a firm smack to Giovanni's backside, "Come on you, if we get there early enough we can get you a new wardrobe and I can fuck you before the den master finishes his rounds."

00

**Market bazaar**

If it were not for the fact that Devrim knew – intimately – that Giovanni had balls, he would of thought him a woman. Take an Italian shopping for clothing? Biggest. Mistake. Of. His. Life.

Add on top of that the Auditore's family fortune and he was ready to assassinate every clothing merchant there. "White is an obnoxious colour." He said as Giovanni studied something that looked like the robes he had lost, "The threading is cheap too..."

"I always wear white...what colour would suit me better?"

He leaned forward and whispered into Giovanni's ear, "I like it when you are covered in my colour," He wanted the man to hurry up so he could take him to a secluded corner and fuck him, he was horny! "What about grey or this one?" He pulled out a few different materials, "If you prefer Italian design then one of our seamstress' can deviate from our patterns."

"Well, well, well! If it is not Auditore's little bastard!" Both assassins straightened up, turning to face a man with the slimiest smile either had ever seen, "You remember me, I was very nearly your Uncle Duccio!"

"Gigi?" Devrim looked the man before them up and down – he was drunk. "You actually know this...vagrant?"

Giovanni let his head fall back in exasperation, "Ugh! Long story, short; he was engaged to my aunt, screwed around, Papa beat him up. Then he was in Roma, provoked Papa into beating him senseless...again and apparently he has a failing trading company...so Papa thought he would beat the stuffing out of him last week for fun. The man can not help himself." He turned away from the drunk and spotted a material he liked, "I think this one."

"Black?" Devrim also turned, "In what style?"

"...You know, my grandfather had this amazing coat...it looks fantastic, it is on Tiber Island at home...a little worse for wear as father wore it when he was starting out. I wonder if I can get something similar done – of course Matteo will want something the same."

A grunt came from behind them, "What! You are going to ignore me? Think you are too good for me?" Duccio swayed a little as he walked closer, "Just because your family were once nobility – which it is not any more on account of your family being traitors, does not mean you are...you are just some bastard kid of a murderer and a whore."

"My mother was not a whore!" The Italian whipped around, if he had any of his weapons he would have drawn them, "Keep your mouth shut before I break your jaw!"

Devrim's arm went across Giovanni's chest, "He is not worth it, he is a sad old drunk looking for someone to acknowledge he exists." A busy market place full of guards was not the best place for a brawl.

"I will say this slowly so your dirty, little Arab understands too. Your mother was a whore, I hear she died choking on some guy's cock whilst getting fucked by two others."

The Turk glared at the man, his arm dropping from Giovanni as if giving permission to kill the drunken bastard and be done with it. Only he was a hell of a lot faster than Giovanni could ever dream of being. Devrim spun on his heel and buried his fist into the Italian's ribs, a satisfying crack and the give under his knuckles telling him he'd broken some bones. Duccio doubled over, his head meeting the Turk's knee painfully before he was allowed to crumple into a little ball. "Just remember whos country you are in and mind how you talk about other people's families because next time I will let him kill you." Turning back to the terrified merchant, Devrim gave a sweet smile to the man, "Can you cut a few lengths of this one? And some of that one too – do you think they go together?" After a very good discount the Turk pulled Giovanni along with him, "You have plenty to wear."

"You did not have to do that." Giovanni said quietly, "I could have defended myself..."

"And I could have defended myself from Iram's words – we are equal now...besides, I wanted to hit the drunken bastard." They managed to get out of the crowds and Devrim slowed down, "Can you describe this coat of yours to our seamstress? I picked out an azure trimming...sorry, I just like the colour on you...a lighter blue on Matteo seems more appropriate. You prefer monotones though..."

Giovanni smiled brightly for the man, "I do not mind, your country is so colourful and in the Italians come with their blacks and whites – I would want to put some colour on me too...I like blue...the really bright ones but I do not think they would suit me."

"That is why it is darker, oh..." The Turk paused in his walking, silver eyes looking at a clear area of grass in the shadow of a mosque, "It is gone..." Giovanni blinked dumbly at the spot and asked what was wrong.

00

**Constantinople 1493**

"_Up! Up!" Devrim giggled madly as his father threw him high into the air and caught him, His mother looked up at them from the stone bench and smiled at their antics, "Can I have a honey date?" _

_Yusuf sat beside his wife, his two year old on his lap, "Can he?"_

"_...One, he will be sick otherwise." She stroked her fingers through the curly, black hair of her son, his huge silver eyes crinkling happily at her, "It will not do to have the both of us being sick."_

_Devrim crawled off of Yusuf's lap and sat close to his mother, the massive bump of her stomach stopping him from sitting on her, "Baba said you get sick because you ate my baby brother." She looked at the man with a look that told him, 'you are in so much trouble', "Was he bad?"_

"_No, Dev, I am keeping him warm in my tummy and in a few days you can meet him." She gave the toddler a date and reached over to smack Yusuf across his ear, "I did not eat the baby! Do not tell him these things!" Yusuf laughed at her and grabbed up his son, lifting him onto his shoulders and running around the little clearing, "I do not know which of you is the toddler!"_

"_Just think, next time we come here I can play with both of my children!"_

00

"Devrim?" Giovanni shook his shoulder gently, "What is gone?"

"There used to be a bench right there...when my father had a little time off, he would ask my mother to make a little picnic and we would come here. Just the three of us...then the four, six, seven and finally eight of us...It was right there before I left for Cyprus. They took my bench."

The sad little face Devrim was pulling made Giovanni want to kiss him there and then, "Aww, I want to feel sorry for you but you look so miserably cute. Things change, Devrim. My favourite spot as a kid was a field outside my great uncle Mario's villa. Papa used to bundle us onto his horse and ride us out – we could have walked but he always rode us out. Monteriggioni was where we would go just with him, a weekend every now and then."

"What? Did they take your field?" Devrim joked.

"It was razed to the ground when the Borgia destroyed everything," Giovanni said, "It was not the bench that made that place special – it is the memory."

"...when did you get so wise?

Giovanni laughed, "Oh I stole the line!" They both laughed at that and were on their way to the den, planning to forget the altercation in the market place and get on with their day. As they were passing a familiar area the Italian slowed a little, "I would like to see Matteo...do you mind?" Devrim agreed easily and they made the detour to Sofia's shop, only the door was firmly closed. "Strange...stand behind me."

"Why...hey!" Giovanni was picking the lock with a little set he had in his boot, all Devrim could do was block anyone passing from seeing the assassin break into a building, "You pick locks? You have some very dodgy friends in Italy." He heard a click and quickly followed Giovanni in, "Are you an assassin or a thief?"

He rolled his eyes, "Officially; I am one of La Volpe's guild members – so a thief first." He made his way to the back room, Sofia was stood by the door; her face wearing a concerned expression as she watched the scene in front of her. "What happened?" His father was sat on the side of the makeshift bed, Matteo curled into the man's chest like a frightened, little boy. And Matteo was doing something Giovanni had not seen him do in many, many years; Crying.

"I think it has sunk in," she said, "There was a break in last night, they took an old painting, smashed the window to get in – I am guessing that you two used that to get in."

Devrim gave Giovanni a pointed look, "Actually we picked the lock. Was Matteo hurt? Were you harmed, Sofia?" He knew she would have been here last night, even though Matteo was almost ready to be moved, she would have been taking care of the infection induced fever. She appeared unharmed and confirmed it for him, she had been sleeping when they heard the crash and heard the voices, Matteo had gotten out of the bed in an instant as years of training had taught him to. And then he had collapsed under his own weight, weeks of laying in a bed having taken its toll, he had fallen onto his right side, every burn, bruise and cut screaming through him with such intensity all he could do was cry out in agony. The thieves had run away of course but Matteo felt so useless in all his life.

The youngest Auditore approached his family, kneeling beside the bed and placing his hand on Matteo's leg, the man's uninjured hand was occupied with grasping at Ezio's clothing, "Matteo, it will take time, you can not expect to be running across rooftops today or tomorrow...build up your strength."

"And then what?" Matteo snapped, "I can stumble around blindly for the rest of my life?" It did not matter if his arm got better – he was blind! What was he supposed to do with himself? Sit around whilst life got on without his input, "I wish I had died."

Shaking his head vehemently, Giovanni let his hold tighten a little, "Do not say that. We will figure something out, do not give up...not yet at least." Matteo didn't answer him, "...Will it make you feel better if I tell you Devrim beat up Duccio De Luca?" Both his brother and father tilted their heads in curiosity, "If only he could take hits as well as he talks."

"...If he curled up like a pussy...I might think there is something decent in this world."

00

They inevitably arrived late at the Den, the master of it unhappy but understanding all the same. He had told Devrim to get ready for a quick mission, a few Byzantine guards were starting to camp a little too close to the Den, "You two will have to share a room, take turns on the bed or sleep foot to face – I think Yusuf forgets this is only a small den...or he hates you." The Master had said whilst arming himself, "The occasional scout might come in other than that you are on your own, we will not be long." Giovanni had nodded and the second the man had his back turned, Devrim kissed his lips quickly and with a wink was out the door. That left him on his own in the small building, the essentials were here, bomb crafting, food, bandages, places to sleep and a few room up the stairs for Masters or Yusuf Tazim's children when they were based there – spoilt brats.

He wasted some time packing his things away, pulling blankets onto the bed, tidying...being bored. He hated not being allowed on missions, Yusuf still had him on a ban after his stunt with Iram, he had given up his weapons willingly but hadn't he proved he was in his right mind again...that he could be trusted? A noise downstairs made him look up from a book he was browsing through and make his way down, it had only been a few hours since Devrim had left.

It was not his lover, an assassin in deep green robes was rifling through the bomb crafting table, muttering to themselves as they couldn't find gunpowder, "Hello?"

The man jumped and spun, his hook blade ejected as if ready for a fight. He was the same height and build as Giovanni, his hair messily short and black, green eyes that blinked slowly as he regarded the Italian, "Are you an Auditore? One of Mentor Ezio's sons? I suppose you are, you are definately Italian and you have eyes like the Mentor and someone said you would be here with Dev, I mean why else would someone like you be here? ...no weapons though...or even your own clothes, that is Dev's favourite top – it has a tiny hole on the shoulder seem so I know."

"I am Giovanni Auditore...and you are?" The man certainly talked a lot, he seemed a little younger than him, maybe eighteen or nineteen and he certainly didn't mind staring.

The man smiled, "Faruq. I came for some gunpowder but this den does not have any – are you Dev's lover? You are wearing his favourite top after all, and you look like his type. Lean, tall, unusual eye colour...inexperienced. I do not think he likes having a dominant boyfriend or he might just like having something tight to slide his cock into, either way he never bottoms...it is a shame because I could have made him moan." The man then crossed his arms as a thoughtful expression appeared, "Maybe that is why we broke up? I never thought asking if I could fuck him may have offended him...what do you think? Not that I did not enjoy being under him, he is like the most gentle lover in the world – sometimes I wished he had been a little rougher though!"

Faruq talked too much. "Wait...you and Devrim...were together?" the other nodded and Giovanni couldn't help but feel a little jealous. "I am going back upstairs...it was nice to meet you, Faruq.

"Wait! I can tell you what he really likes, his favourite position, how to suck him off – he really appreciates someone who can take him all the way to the base, it is annoying because I always gagged, he is too big. You agree, right?"

Giovanni was once again shocked, surprised, a little jealous and mostly confused by the man's verbal diarrhoea, "We are pretty much the same size...Listen, thank you for offering but we are doing just fine..."

Faruq waltzed toward him, "I could show you, you are pretty attractive and I bet Dev keeps you nice and loose."

"_Prego_?" Alright, that was too much, "I am not interested, keep your words to yourself and your hands off. Just because I am unarmed does not mean I will not break yo – mmph!" These Turks were fast and unpredictable, Faruq had grabbed his face and planted his mouth over the Italian's, forcing his tongue inside after biting roughly at Giovanni's bottom lip – something slipping from his mouth and into the other's throat. Finally Giovanni shoved the persistent bastard off and away, "What did you do? What the fuck did you just give me?" He immediately shoved two fingers to the back of his throat, trying to force himself to puke but already knowing that with no gag reflex he was stuck with whatever was in him now, "What did you do?" Shoving Faruq into the wall and trapping the Turk, who would not stop grinning like a fool, Giovanni demanded an answer, becoming more agitated as his body began heating up.

"Wow, your pupils are massive, it works quickly, I will not have to wait and are you feeling hot? Is your body on fire, is your cock swelling and your balls aching?" Snaking a hand up to pinch an erect nipple, Faruq laughed happily at the helpless moan that escaped the other, "It is just a little pill, it helps you relax and makes you ridiculously aroused until you would fuck anyone or thing – oops," He caught Giovanni as the Italian's legs gave slightly, even those touches making him moan wantonly, "You are hung like a horse, my friend, I am so glad I am not going to be on the receiving end – you want me to fuck you right? Of course you do, you could not say no even if you wanted to, you want me to relieve all this pressure before you burn up."

Giovanni shivered miserably as the man palmed at his crotch, he didn't want this but his body wasn't obeying him and was begging for more. The teeth against his ear were not gentle as they descended, the tongue pressed against the scar tissue that started under his ear and he buckled to the floor – that shouldn't feel good! The touch there was enough to make him jerk pleasurably against his will, "Get...away from...me..." The man ignored him, back to nibbling on his neck, teeth catching roughly over his scar and that was when Giovanni snapped. His entire body stiffening as he managed to gain control again until he didn't see the room any more, he was in Venice and he was surrounded by the thugs, his mother's body just behind them; he would make them all pay. He didn't see a terrified Faruq when he grabbed the first thug, his mind somewhere else as his body commanded that he beat the man to a bloody pulp.


End file.
